iWould Have Pounded Him Silly
by OneHorseShay
Summary: Carly couldn't realize how one stray comment and misjudgment of Freddie would change both their lives. Now he strives for a better life while she fights for their friendship and maybe his love again. Cat/Freddie vs. Creddie. Post iPwV, leading to iOMG.
1. Chapter 1

iWould Have Pounded Him Silly

By OneHorseShay

Disclaimer: Don't Own, don't Sue, for God sakes, don't sue.

Summary: Carly nor Freddie could realize how one stray comment and misjudgment from her towards Freddie would change both their lives. Now Freddie strives for a better life while Carly fights for their friendship and maybe his love again. Cat/Freddie vs. Creddie. Post iPwV, before and leading to iOMG and Prome Wrecker and beyond.

Author's note: I'm sticking as close to Season 1 incarnation of Cat Valentine's character throughout the story. Sorry, but her Season 2 interpretation has lost a lot of IQ points for no apparent reason.

Chapter 1

Kenan Thompson's Residence

Los Angeles, CA

"You were wrong," Freddie whispered with a determined look on his face. Carly turned around as she was packing her stuff from the same room where they had first met Tori.

She sighed without looking back, but down at her bag. "I know, everyone told me so, I don't want to hear it from you too."

"No, not about him cheating on you, but about him pounding me silly. I would have pounded his scrawny tail silly."

Carly laughed and turned around to meet his gaze, "But you're all nerdy."

"So is your dad, _Steven_, and he's in Special Forces and that was after he was a fighter pilot. Don't underestimate nerds especially those that went through rehab after being hit by a truck," he replied with his boyish smirk then lifted his right arm and flexed.

Carly swallowed a lump that formed in her throat and blushed for a moment looking at his arm muscle. _Where has he been hiding those?_ She found her voice a moment later to answer, "I stand corrected."

Freddie snorted out and shook his head at the fact that he could get her to blush. He relaxed and lowered his arm before taking a step forward. "If he was still around I'd still teach him what happens when you make Carly Shay cry."

She nodded hesitantly, "Yeah… well I guess that happens when you're in love with a guy and he—"

"You weren't in love with him," Freddie snorted out and shook his head. He didn't know where that came from, but he quickly realized that it felt true and right.

Carly's brow furled and asked hotly, "How can you say I wasn't in love with him? You know I was!"

Freddie frowned in response as he replied indignantly, "Because you didn't act any different with him than when we were together and we agreed you weren't in love with me, so you weren't in love with him. You only thought you were in love with him, just like me."

Carly reeled back from the accusation then looked down at the floor for a moment. "That's not fair."

"You're right, it's not fair that you can be 'in love' and be with someone, but if I have the nerve to look at another girl you get to hit me with a fruit," he replied sternly.

Her head shot up and looked at his stern face.

He felt the same anger he felt for Steven earlier boiling up, but he didn't feel it towards Steven but for the girl standing in front of him. "You hit me and it hurt. I'd never lay a hand on you, _I would never lay a hand on you_, but you hit me for looking at Tori. And so what if I drooled, how is that any different than when you make eyes at Adam, Cort or Steven? And you know I would treat her right and she wouldn't just be some pretty girl on my arm because I treated you right. Heck, I'm the only guy that's ever treated you right, but you keep going for loser after loser. Cat's right, I'm not the problem, you are."

Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I'm the problem?"

"Yes, you're the problem: you think because a cute boy smiles at you and can kiss you that you're in love then go on about practicing changing your last name to his or think he's your future husband. I on the other hand am just as good looking, you know I can kiss you just as well or better because you never complained about my kissing and I would stick by your side even if it brings me nothing but pain and no appreciation on your part. You still look at me just as Freddie again and put them before me even after all we've been through. Face it Carly, you're so superficial and shallow you could be mistaken for a kiddy pool."

The next thing he heard and felt was the palm of Carly's hand slapping his face. His head only turned slightly as he kept a stern face. He looked back at her and she blinked in shock and took a step back. Whether it was the fact that she hit him or the look he was giving her didn't matter to him for a moment. He replied in a slow and deliberate voice, "You wouldn't hit Steven or let Sam hit him for cheating on you or hit Tori for being the other girl, but you'd hit me and have hit me… and I'm the guy whose only crime was loving you since I was a child, nearly died for my love for you… and let you go for that love."

Freddie shook his head. The next words that he spoke felt like a knife twisting in his gut, but he spoke them anyway as he looked her straight in the eyes, "That just proved you're not worth that pain anymore and you're not worth one more moment of my time. I'm finally going to do something I should have done a long time ago, put myself first instead of you. Goodbye Carly." He reached over and picked up his bag and turned around leaving Carly standing as pale as a ghost and as silent as a tomb.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Freddie walked briskly out of the room with his backpack on his back trying to weave through the party still raging in the mansion. He was almost out the front door when he felt a soft grip caught his arm. He was so mad he almost turned to punch the person who grabbed him, but when he turned his head he saw the concern look of Cat Valentine.

"Where are you going?" she whispered as she looked to him with sad brown eyes.

His angry look dropped immediately and replaced with a weary look. His tense shoulders slumped and whispered, "I… I don't know where I'm going. I just need to get out of here."

The red velvet hair girl nodded and took hold of one of his hands. "Okay." She then pulled him along to follow her out the front door.

"Carls! Carly!" Sam shouted out as she looked through out the house for her brunette friend. She nodded and waved at fans of the show as she passed them until she found herself back at the room where they had taken off their disguises. The blonde stopped when she found Carly sitting on the bench staring off into the opposite wall.

Sam blinked for a moment and raised a curious eyebrow. She approached the brunette and saw that a few tears were rolling down her cheeks as she was displaying a blank expression. "Carly?" she whispered, hopefully in a comforting tone.

Carly ignored her at first as she looked at the wall. Sam took a seat beside her and slightly nudged her in the shoulder with her fingers and asked in a louder voice, "Carly?"

The brunette blinked and turned her attention to Sam. "What?"

Sam almost flinched at hollow tone in the usually cheerful girl's voice. "Ah, Carls what'cha doing?"

Carly shook her head slightly and without focusing on Sam replied in a soft tone, "Nothing."

"I can see that, but why?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know what else to do."

Sam snorted out a laugh. "What are you talking about? We still have this killer party while we're here, let's party it up, but why are you crying?"

Carly started laughing, but it wasn't a joyful one to Sam's ears. Actually it disturbed the blonde as it sounded almost hysterical. "I lost a boyfriend and I lost my friend."

"This is about Steven?"

Carly shook her head. "No, I mean I lost Freddie."

"What do you mean you lost Freddie?"

"We had a fight and he walked out of our friendship. He didn't want to waste any more time with me. He said I wasn't worth the pain anymore."

Sam let out a dismissive sigh. "Is this what this is about? He threw a tantrum because you won't be his girlfriend."

"No, he's just tired that I always treat him second best… to everyone."

"He is the nub, he's always second best."

"Well he's tired of it and doesn't want anything to do with me anymore," Carly snapped back harshly.

Sam shook her head and smirked. "He's bluffing. He'll come crawling back and be all apologetic and say how stupid he was for walking away then I'm going to pound him into the ground."

"I always let you hit him…" She then snorted in disgust. "Now I'm hitting him… for doing what I do."

Sam turned around and looked to her with a perplex look on her face. "What?"

"I always let you hit him… I didn't let you hit Steven and he cheated on me, I didn't let you hit Tori… I always take your side over his."

Sam grinned and replied, "Because I'm your best friend and he's—"

"He's what? My second best friend that I let you torment and that I always give an afterthought if someone or something else comes up?" Carly shook her head and looked down to her lap. "I wouldn't want to be treated like that and he realized that he didn't either. I guess he's going to go find people that will treat him right."

Sam laughed. "Well good luck to him then. Except all the nerds at school, who would give him the time a day?"

Valentine's Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Cat led Freddie up the stairs of her home to her bedroom. She silently opened the door and flicked on the light switch. She dropped her purse on her desk and walked over to sit on her the edge of her bed. Freddie cautiously entered the bedroom because it was the first time he had been in another girl's bedroom other than Carly's bedroom.

She smiled at him and bit her lower lip. She found his bashfulness adorable, so she waved him inside hoping to relieve his apprehension.

Freddie caught her smile directed at him and warmed him a little bit. He could feel some of the tension that he had been carrying since they left Kenan's place seem to dissipate. He walked over to her desk and dropped his backpack beside it. He then started turning his gaze around the room and examined how she had decorated it. He smiled at seeing the girl's preference for pink and the room giving an air of innocence and happiness with pictures of bunnies.

The brown eye boy then looked to the red velvet hair teenager. She was smiling at him as she ran her hands through her hair on the left side of her head. He took the time to really look at her: the red velvet hair contrasted against her light skin appealed to his eyes; he then looked to her soft brown eyes then to her soft pink lips and her cute dimples she displayed as she smiled at him; his eyes traveled down her swanlike neck and down to the soft curvature of her chest that she tried to hide with her hair. He swallowed nervously as he finally realized how short her blue shorts really were when Cat crossed her legs and he diverted his gaze for a moment as to not to stare at her shapely legs.

It finally hit him that he was in a very beautiful girl's room with her in it and that he had know her for less than two hours and it was around midnight on a Saturday night in Los Angeles. He was grateful that he was standing beside Cat's desk chair as he immediately took a seat. He wasn't sure if that was the best since her desk was pushed to the side of the head of her bed, so they were sitting so close together if she uncrossed her legs she'd kick him.

Cat laughed and spread her arms wide and motioned around her room. "So this is my room. How do you like it?"

Freddie smiled at her motions and answered, "It's… it's very cute. I think the bunny rabbits are the cutest."

"Thank you."

Freddie cleared his throat as she watched him. "Cat? Is it alright for me to be here?"

Cat frowned before asking, "Why? You don't want to be here?"

He shook his head. "No, it's just… is it alright for you to have boys in your room this late at night? I mean you really don't know me and it's almost midnight."

Cat gave a relieved laugh. "Oh, but I do know you. I see you every Friday on iCarly."

Freddie nodded to the explanation, but the mentioning of 'iCarly' just filled him with dread.

Cat noticed his change in expression and asked, "Do you have to go someplace?"

Freddie was about to answer when he realized the answer: he'd ditched the rest of them and Spencer was his ride back to Seattle. He realized that he was not spending eighteen hours on the road with them and even if they left right now, it would be sometime late Sunday before they got back. He shook his head in disgust about how he had wasted an entire weekend for Carly's now _ex-boyfriend_. He didn't even get the chance to beat Steven silly for the trouble.

"No, I don't, but I have to get a hotel room for tonight, then have to get a bus ticket, going to miss school on Monday…" he sighed in annoyance. He didn't even have a change of sleepwear clothes. He realized how much the situation had turned into a real mess.

"You could stay here," the redhead suggested with a half-smile.

"With you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded with a grin.

"Is that really appropriate?"

"I won't take advantage of you even if you are a cute, handsome boy," she replied with a giggle then high pitch laugh.

Freddie blushed at the comment and was forced to look down from her playful eyes. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the situation, looking down meant looking at her crossed legs. He just started laughing at the absurdity of the situation: he had ended his friendship with the girl that he had loved since sixth grade and now not an hour later he was being offered to stay the night with a beautiful girl that thought he was handsome and cute. The only thought came to mind: Why not?

"What?" she asked with innocent confusion.

He smiled as he met her brown eyes. "You wouldn't have any sleepwear I could borrow, would you?"

She grinned and got up from her bed. "I'll be right back," she whispered then gave him a quick peck on the lips.

He blinked from the soft, sweet contact as she walked past him and out of the room. A small smile formed on his lips and he thought: _Why not indeed?_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kenan Thompson's Home

Los Angeles, CA

The hour was getting late as Spencer was searching for the teenagers through the party goers. He had found Gibby and they finally found Carly and Sam as they were entering the main party area. He greeted them cheerfully, "Hey, I know it's been fun, but we have to get going. Where's Freddie?"

The girls looked to one another for a moment before Carly answered hesitantly, "I don't know."

Sam snorted out. "Who cares? Let's go."

"We can't leave without Freddie," Spencer laughed and shook his head.

"Why not?" Sam asked flippantly.

Spencer sighed, "I can't leave Freddie."

"Yes we can, Freddie just walked out on Carly. I say we let him."

"What do you mean he walked out on Carly?" Spencer asked with a confused expression. He looked to Carly, but she was looking down at the floor with a sad expression on her face.

Sam looked to the artist and explained quickly, "Freddie threw a tantrum and 'ended' his friendship with Carly."

Spencer looked even more confused. "What? Why?"

Carly shook her head as she looked at the floor and replied in a sad tone, "He didn't throw a tantrum, he just told me how he felt. He finally got sick of me always putting him second best to everyone else. It's my fault. I shouldn't have treated him like that."

Spencer was a lost for words. Fortunately for the moment, he didn't need to provide any deep wisdom as his phone beeped letting him know he received a text message. He quickly pulled out the pear shaped phone and read the text message out loud, "It's from Freddie: _Staying at a hotel tonight, taking bus home tomorrow._"

"Text him back and ask him where he is," Carly prodded.

Spencer quickly text a message back as the brunette waited. His phone beeped a moment later and he read the reply, "A hotel, night Spencer. I'm turning my phone off."

Carly's face fell at Freddie's response to her brother's inquiry. She shook her head and replied, "No, we can't just leave."

Spencer mouth gaped for a moment before he finally was able to speak, "I don't know what else to do. We can't search every hotel in LA in the off chance we can find him. He'll be on a bus back about the time we _might_ find him if he stayed in a hotel."

Carly felt a surge of warmth run through her body before she replied in a demanding voice, "He is not just ditching us! We are going to find him and we are not leaving LA without him."

Spencer swallowed nervously as she looked to him with a stern look. "Okay kiddo, where should we begin?"

Freddie had taken a seat on a stool at the island of the Valentine kitchen waiting for Cat to come back down as she was changing into her pajamas. She had giving him a pair of her father's grey sweatpants and an old blue T-Shirt that wasn't that bad of a fit, being just a size or so too big. While he was waiting, he had sent off two text message to keep Spencer from not worrying about him. He at least owed that much to the eccentric artist, but not anything else for Spencer to get a location out of him to try and drag him back with them to Seattle. The brown eye boy didn't have to wait long as he heard her soft feet pitter patter on the linoleum kitchen floor.

He turned his head to see the bubbly redhead approach. He laughed at seeing Cat in her fitted small yellow T-shirt. She gave him a pouting look and asked, "What's so funny?"

He pointed at her yellow shirt that had the words printed: I Love Nerds, but instead of love there was a red heart. "I love your shirt."

She looked down at her shirt for a moment and laughed when she looked back up at his eyes. She calmed down a moment later and tilted her head to the side and replied, "It's true. Do you know any?"

Freddie laughed and shook his head. "I know a few." He let his gaze travel down and tried not to blush at seeing Cat's legs being shown off with her very short loose fitting burgundy and white striped sport shorts. His eyes followed her as she went to a kitchen cabinet to retrieve them some bowls and he felt a little bit of shame as realized he was staring at how well she wore those shorts as she reached up, stretching to the cabinet. At this point, he wasn't sure if she understood how sexy she could look or knew exactly what she was doing, but the way this night had went so far, he was too tired and emotionally drained to care.

He looked back to the counter top as she turned around brought two bowels and spoons to sit on the island. She then went to get some cereal, but Freddie focused on the empty bowl in front of him, because he really didn't trust himself anymore not to stare. He didn't want to cross the line between admiration and perversion. Cat gave a soft giggle as she poured some Fiber-Nut cereal for each of them.

"Milk?" she asked with a smile and raised eyebrow.

Freddie nodded and gave a nervous smile.

A few moments later she came back with the milk and poured some milk for the both of them. She took a seat across from him and they started eating in silence, but Cat saw the worried look on Freddie's face and frowned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Freddie lifted his head up from his cereal to look into those soft brown orbs with a comforting smile. He felt a surge of anger that he couldn't remember the last time Carly looked at him that way, Sam yes, even Gibby, but not him: one of absolute concern for his well being. The accident was the obvious time she looked at him that way, but that was an entirely unique situation.

He shook his head and looked back down at the cereal. "No."

In a sad expression and tone, she answered, "'kay, 'kay."

"Why do you care?"

"What?" she asked and blinked as a doe in the woods.

"Why do you care how I feel?"

Cat looked down at the counter with a confused expression. "Am I not supposed to?"

"I'm not asking about supposing to, but why? Why do you care?"

In a bashful tone she replied, "I just… I had my heart broken once too and I didn't have anyone to talk to or be there for me."

"What about your friends?"

"Tori was part of the problem, so I couldn't talk to her about it."

"Oh? Oh… I'm sorry," he answered feeling even worst then when he left the party that he could make this sweet girl miserable for a moment.

Cat surprised him with a laugh, "We made up. We're best friends, so we're great."

He nodded in response hesitantly. "I'm glad to hear."

She giggled and wrinkled her nose for a moment before turning back to her cereal.

He looked up everyone once and a while to look at the pretty singer's face as they continued to eat in relative silent. He felt a little guilty at staring at her earlier as he would see her completely innocent and content face as she enjoyed her cereal. He turned his attention back to the cereal trying to push the guilt away as he was tired of hurting tonight.

"What's wrong?"

Freddie looked up from his cereal to see her concern face. Her brown eyes were so welcoming and to him more importantly, nonjudgmental. He let out a breath and admitted, "I'm sorry, but I was looking."

"Looking at what?"

"You," he choked out and looked back to his cereal.

"Oh? Oh…," she answered with a blush on her cheeks.

Freddie was randomly poking his spoon into his cereal as he continued, "You're very attractive Cat. I'm sorry, but I was kind of staring for a moment when you were getting the bowls and silverware."

"I have a confession to make too," she replied bashfully.

Freddie lifted his head and wore a surprise look on his face as he met her eyes. "You do?"

She got up from her stool and walked around to stand beside him on his left. He twisted his upper body slightly in the stool to face her and used his left hand to not fall off the stool. She stood close enough that her bare legs touched his cotton covered legs. She displayed a playful smile and poked his left bicep as she answered, "I've stared a few times. You're really handsome Freddie."

Freddie snorted out a breath and smiled at the playful redhead. They looked to each other for a few moments and each of their smiles faded. She leaned forward and her lips contacted his lips. A tentative chaste kiss turned into a deeper one as she lifted her left hand to rest on his right shoulder and slipped her right hand to the side of his abdomen. She smiled into the kiss as she felt his strong left hand start from resting on her right hip for a moment to wrap around and palm the small of her back to pull her tighter to him. The brown eye boy raised his right hand and palmed her left shoulder as he responded as tenderly.

She pulled back after a few moments and rested her forehead onto his forehead then giggled as she caught her breath. "That was nice."

He involuntarily laughed in response as he replied, "I'm glad, because I'm out of practice and I wouldn't want to disappoint such a sweet girl."

She laughed and replied, "You're a charmer Freddie Benson." She then gave him a peck on the lips.

He licked his lips to taste a hint of strawberry he assumed was from her lip-gloss. He smiled as he met her eyes and replied, "I'm a lot of different things…"

In a hopeful voice she asked, "Would you tell me those things?"

"Only if you get to tell me what makes Cat, Cat," he replied with a boyish grin.

"Okay," she replied in a playful manner. She detangled herself from his warm and comforting grip and took his hand. She gave a slight tug for him to follow her back to her room and leaving the empty bowls on the kitchen island.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading so far. I plan to try to update on Tuesdays and Thursdays.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone that has read this story so far, taken the time to review, story alert and favorite the story. My deepest thanks. Now onward to more of the story.**

Chapter 4

Kenan Thompson's Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Carly sat on a bench feeling utterly rejected as they (even with Tori and her friends volunteering to help) quickly determined that finding Freddie at any particular hotel in Los Angeles was next to impossible and that was assuming he used his real name.

The brunette felt sick to her stomach and ached all over as she replayed in her head what he had said to her before walking out on her:

…_you're the problem._

…_I would stick by your side even if it brings me nothing but pain and no appreciation on your part._

_Face it Carly, you're so superficial and shallow you could be mistaken for a kiddy pool._

…_you'd hit me and have hit me… and I'm the guy whose only crime was loving you since I was a child, nearly died for my love for you… and let you go for that love._

… _you're not worth that pain anymore and you're not worth one more moment of my time._

She didn't realize at first how deep he had cut her with those words… or how much truth his words held, but now she did and it was crashing down on her. She wrapped her arms around herself as she let all the different emotions whirl throughout her body. Anger that he had just walked out and not told them where he was going. Fear that they didn't know where he was in LA. Despair that he wasn't with her. Everything seemed to hurt and her stomach churned as the questions ran through her head: _Was this the pain he felt when she would disregard his opinion? Was this what he felt when she stood by and allowed Sam to hurt him? Was this what he felt when she hit him? Was this what he felt when she said that she loved some guy she barely knew and went on how he was going to be her future husband?_

One thought however screamed out through the haze and confusion of her whirling emotions: _He had given up on her. He didn't think she was worth his attention or caring anymore._

That thought was too much for the brunette to handle and she got off the bench and ran to the nearest bathroom. Fortunately, no one was occupying it and she slammed the door behind her. She knelt down in front of the toilet just as she coughed and heaved the contents of her last meal and emptied into the toilet bowl.

She wiped the stray spittle and vomit off the side of her mouth with the back of her hand as she let the shakes started wrecking her body for a moment. She pulled herself away from the toilet and brought her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She lowered her forehead on her knees and just cried as one last thought ran through her mind: _This night just gets worst and worst._

Sam shook her head in disgust as he looked towards the lanky artist. "What are we going to do Spencer? We have no idea where the nub is and we can't just stay here."

"I know, but I can't tell Mrs. Benson I left her son in LA and I think Carly will refuse to leave if we tried to go without him," Spencer replied shaking his head.

"I saw him talking to Cat earlier," Rex piped up.

The pair looked to the puppet as he and the rest of the Hollywood Arts students were sitting with them at one of the bars in the main party area. The party was still going strong, but the guests had seemed to realize to leave that area to them.

Robbie continued eagerly, "Maybe she knows where he could have gone."

André furled his brow and asked, "Wait, has anyone seen Cat?"

Valentines' Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Once the teenagers reached her bedroom and shut the door behind them, Cat went over to her PearPod and speaker stand to shuffle through her play list. She bit her bottom lip and giggled when she found the song. She pressed play and the soft, slow melody of the song started playing.

She turned to look back at the taller boy and offered her left hand. "We didn't get to dance at the party and I want to dance."

Freddie smirked and shook his head. He didn't even think about it as he took the few steps forward to her. She wrapped her hands behind his neck and he rested his hands on her hips. They started swaying to the song and smiled to one another.

She released a small laugh before asking, "So I get to learn about Freddie Benson?"

He returned with his boyish smile that seemed to warm and tingle her insides. "Yep, as long as I get know Cat."

"So how do we do that?"

Freddie chuckled. "How about we play a game? One person asks a question, answers then gets to ask the other person a question."

"I love games! I get to go first," she replied cheerfully.

"Okay, what's your first question?"

"Hey, you asked the first question!" she pouted.

Freddie laughed and surprising himself kissed her on the nose. "The game only starts when you ask the first question."

"Oh, okay…" she returned to her naturally happy demeanor and wiggled her nose for a moment from the tickling contact of his lips. "What's Freddie short for?"

"Fredward. What's Cat short for?"

"Caterina, but only my grandmother calls me Caterina. How did you get so muscular?"

"Rehab—"

"Rehab?" she interrupted with a fearful and concern look in her eyes.

Freddie cleared his throat bashfully. "Do you know about the accident?"

"Something about a taco truck? I saw some pictures with you in casts early last year?"

"Yes, I needed the rehab for my right hand," he replied and lifted his right hand off her hip and wiggled his fingers. "And I needed it for my left leg, but once I was done I just kept up with the working out."

She nodded to the explanation then took one of her hand from behind his neck and grasped his hand. She kissed his palm then smile to him. He smiled in return and shook his head. He took her hip in his hand again as her hand rested again behind his neck and they continued swaying to the music.

"I think you owe me a few questions," he commented with a wink.

She grinned and showed off her dimples that he was quickly becoming enduring to him.

"Can I call you Caterina sometimes?"

She nodded.

"Why is your hair red?"

"My favorite food is red velvet cupcakes, so are noodles and candies, and potatoes, but I didn't want my hair to taste like potatoes."

Freddie's smiled faltered for a moment and she caught his look before he could fit his smile back into place.

The redhead frowned and whispered out, "Did I say something wrong?"

The brown eye boy shook his head. "No, I just know another girl whose favorite dessert is red velvet cupcakes. So you wanted your hair to taste like cupcakes?"

Cat wasn't blind to the idea of the girl Freddie remembered liking red velvet cupcakes. She ignored it for his benefit as she replied, "Yes, because they are yummy. What's your favorite movie?"

"Galaxy Wars, do you have any hidden talents?"

She laughed and made laser noises for a moment. Freddie joined in the laughter realizing that she wasn't mocking him as he realized his so called friends did on a number of occasions.

Their mutual laughter ceased a few moments later and Cat was able to reply, "I can use my toes to scratch my nose. What's your hidden talent?"

"Fencing, but… I don't fence anymore," he replied hesitantly. He looked down to avoid her eyes and Cat slightly frowned as she felt his shoulder and neck muscles tighten and tease up.

"Why?"

"I… I just got too busy and can't find the time to practice: school work, other stuff and iCarly…"

In a hopeful tone, Cat suggested, "If you really like it, maybe you should try to make the time."

"Yeah, maybe," he replied and the sadness in his voice screamed in her ears.

She gave a half smile trying to force an expression of happiness as she countered, "You could become a swashbuckler and save the damsel. Who wouldn't want you to come and save them?"

"One girl did, but that's all it was, not really caring about me for me," he replied shaking his head.

It was such a soft whisper, that Freddie doubted for a moment if he heard her speak, "I wish I could use some of my dad's Grizzly Glue to put your heart back together."

Freddie looked up to meet her compassionate brown eyes. She looked like she was at the verge of tears. "I told you not to give up, but she finally broke your heart tonight. I'm sorry."

He pulled her even closer and wrapped his arms around the small of her back. She wrapped her arms around him tighter and buried her nose into his neck. He whispered into her ear, "It wasn't that… I finally admitted to myself and to her that she is a shallow person… that I wasn't as important to her as she was to me. I was always a second thought to her when something else caught her eye, but if I looked somewhere else, I was the bad guy. I just don't want to be an after thought anymore… I don't want to be the punch line to anymore jokes… I don't want to be the bad guy or made fun of because I want what everyone else wants: someone to care about them—"

Cat cut him off by pulling back just far enough to capture his lips with her own. This wasn't a chaste, quick peck or stage kiss, but one where she took control and allowed her lips to meld with his lips. He was caught off guard for a moment before responding, but he eagerly reciprocated. She turned her attention to his top lip for a few moments then alternated to his bottom lip.

The redhead pulled back and met the surprised brown eye boy's eyes. She let her tongue run across her lips to savor his taste as they were catching their breaths. He was about to speak when she pulled a hand back from around his neck and placed a finger on his lips. "You're not a joke or a bad guy and I would love to have a sweet boy like you and any girl would be lucky to have you."

Freddie tried to reply, but his mouth refused to work. That wasn't a problem for long as she gave him a quick peck on the lips. She took her other hand and reached around behind her back to take a hand. She pulled away and led him to her bed to have a seat on the edge with her. Their eyes met one more time before she cupped his cheeks and kissed him again. As he kissed back, he instinctively palmed the sides of her abdomen before she leaned forward and her momentum pushed him down on the bed. He pulled his legs up to rest on the bed as she laid on top of him as the pair traded kisses.

The brown eye teenager remembered the last time he was in this position, but didn't have the use of one hand or the mindset to use his free hand. It was a bittersweet memory, but he wasn't going to allow it to ruin this moment. Cat moved her hands from his face and moved them to his shoulders as they deepened their kisses and while his fingers of his right hand grazed up her back and rested in between her shoulder blades and his left hand slipped up under the back of her T-shirt and palmed her warm skin of the small of her back. She smiled and laughed into their kissed to the contact of his hand on her bare skin.

One clear thought crossed Freddie's mind as he enjoyed the tenderness of the girl in his arms: _This night gets stranger and stranger_.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After about half an hour of exchanging kisses and cuddling, the night had finally caught up with Cat and she was resting peacefully with her eyes closed and her head on the pillow next to the left side of his head with an arm draped across his chest. Freddie had to resist laughing as she initially tried to get comfortable just like a real cat. He wore a small smile as he gently brushed his left hand through her red velvet hair and she would smile from the contact.

She whispered with a smile dancing on her lips, "That was nice."

"Yes it was," he replied snorting out a laugh.

She hugged him tighter and snuggled her noise into his neck and kissing his pulse point. Freddie had to resist the urge to groan. She may have been sweet, innocent girl from all outward appearance, but she did know how to kiss. She giggled into his neck at his muted response.

"Cat—" he began, but the ring tone of a PearPhone sounded through the room. It wasn't Freddie's Galaxy Wars theme song ring tone, so he assumed it was Cat's phone.

The redhead reluctantly pulled out of his grasp and out of bed to walk over to her desk. She answered her phone and greeted the person on the other end, "Hello?"

Freddie sat up in bed as he watched the cheerful redhead.

"Oh hi Tori," she giggled into the phone. "Huh, yeah… oh, Freddie's here."

Freddie blinked at how readily she told her friend that he was at the redhead's house.

"Okay…" she reluctantly drew out then hit the end button on her phone. She then looked to Freddie with a conflicted expression. "I think they're coming over."

Freddie groaned out an annoyed sigh. "You shouldn't have told her that. Spencer and they are coming over so they can pick me up. I don't want to go home with them."

A look of hurt appeared on her face and she shouted, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't lie to Tori!"

Freddie was taken aback by Cat's hurt response and immediately got out of the bed and walked over to pull the redhead into a hug. "It's okay. I'm sorry for suggesting that you should. I just… I don't want to deal with them right now."

Cat nodded as her head rested on his shoulder. "Oh, okay, but what happens when they get here?"

"Can I still stay here tonight?"

Cat lifted her head of his shoulder and looked offended that he would suggest otherwise. "Of course you can stay here tonight."

Freddie responded with a grin. "Then I'm going to tell them that and that I'm getting a bus ticket tomorrow and that they should just go ahead and go home without me."

"Do you think they'll listen?" she asked hopefully.

Freddie shook his head and replied, "It doesn't matter, because I'm not leaving."

It was a few minutes later when Carly, Sam and Spencer pulled up outside the Valentine residence led by Tori and her friends. Carly quickly got out of the vehicle and approached the home. She paused for a moment with seeing Freddie waiting for them in grey sweatpants and blue T-shirt.

Cat was standing just inside the door frame as it was too chilly for her to go outside in her sleeping wear and she forgot to grab a robe. Carly noticed the redhead and especially how short Cat's shorts were and that her hair was a little disheveled. The hurt she had felt since throwing up was replaced with furious anger at Freddie. "You lied to us!"

Freddie snorted out indignantly, "Hello to you too."

"Don't get an attitude with me, I was worried," the brunette snapped as she glared at him.

"Too little, too late. You can save your worrying and just go home," he waved off into a direction that he really didn't care if he was pointing in the direction of Seattle.

"We're not leaving you here," she insisted not bothering to keep her resentment out of her voice.

"You don't get a choice. I'm staying the night and getting a bus ticket tomorrow."

Carly pointed towards Cat. "With her?"

"Yes with her," Freddie replied in a short tone.

"You've been with her the entire time?" she asked in an accusing tone.

"I don't see how any of my life is any of your business anymore. Now that I think about it, I don't know why my life had to be an open book for you, not that you really cared to read any of it anyway," he finished with a raised eyebrow. He took a hard look at Carly and continued, "Wait, I remember why: You threw a fit because I had the nerve not to tell something that _wasn't any of your business_."

Carly flinched as she was reminded of the fact that Freddie and Sam had shared their first kiss and didn't tell her. She had told herself over and over again that it she was upset that they hadn't told her the truth, not that she was actually jealous.

"We worried sick about you, but you were with that, that… skungbag the entire time!" Carly pointed over his shoulder to the redhead.

Freddie clenched his jaw tight. He shook his head and turned around to start walking back to the front door. He caught the glances of Tori and the rest of them and they were not happy with what Carly had just said about Cat if the look on their faces were any indication, especially the gothic looking girl. She looked like she could give Sam a run for her money.

_He was doing it again, he's walking out on you_ ran through her mind. The tears were starting to flow again down her cheeks, but there was unadulterated anger and betrayal in her eyes as she shouted, "You never really loved me!"

Spencer blinked at hearing the vitriol in his sister's voice and even Sam was silenced from the brunette's statement.

Freddie growled out a wince as he stopped in his tracks. The sharpness of her words sliced right into his heart and caused him to feel a physical pain in his chest. An old familiar pain joined the one in his chest as the wind picked up on the chilly Los Angeles night.

He turned slowly and approached the brunette with a cold stare. He stopped when he was just about a yard in front of her. In a soft whisper he replied, "When the temperature gets down somewhere in the sixties, my left knee disagrees with you."

Carly's brow furled unsure what to make of what he said.

He leaned over to his left and started rubbing his knee trying to get the pain to ease. "Just like it is getting right now." Freddie shook his head. "It starts off as this dull pain, but soon all the muscles start tightening up and I have trouble bending it. It's just the lingering reminder of the Taco Truck."

The brunette's breath hitched as she looked to the brown eye teenager.

He turned and gave a regretful looked to Cat. "Another reason to keep working out, it relieves the pain for the most part, but not enough. That's the real reason why I don't fence anymore, it hurts too much for the proper footwork and any of the pain medications I could take are too risky with the side effects. I was too embarrassed to admit the truth. I'm sorry."

Cat returned with a sad look, but a warm smile and a slight nod of her head.

Carly found her voice and asked in an indignant tone, "Why are you telling her that?"

Freddie turned his attention back to the web-hostess and glared as he answered, "Because she took the time to ask, something you've never done. You don't care about my hobbies or at least care enough to respect them and not make some silly jokes about them. You didn't even realize that I stopped fencing. I'll never be able to enjoy it again and that is just another thing I've sacrificed on the altar that I built for you. I will probably have this problem for the rest of my life and it will be a constant reminder of when I loved you. Now go home and leave me in peace!"

He then turned and walked right back inside the house before anyone could say a word. Cat quickly shut the door after he cleared the doorway.

Spencer tried to speak for a few moments before he was finally able to utter, "Ah… what do you want to do now?"

"If he wants to stay then let him! Come on," Carly snapped at her brother as she turned and headed back to the SUV.

Sam was sitting in the passenger seat beside Spencer as he drove the SUV down the darken freeway as they started their long trip back to Seattle. Carly sat in the back seat and rested her forehead on the passenger window as she looked out of it, staring out at the black night. She was glad that it there was barely any light in the vehicle as they went down the highway. They couldn't see the tears running down her cheeks and vacant expression on her face.

**Author's Note: I think that was pretty intense confrontation, but please don't judge a character for one scene. They'll surprise you later. Fortunately, I'm not leaving you with a cliffhanger.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Freddie let out a breath as he heard the clicking sound of the door behind him being closed. It was a soft sound, but so loud in his mind. It wasn't just the door shutting to keep the chilly air out, but the door shutting on a part of his life and it hurt. He palmed his forehead with his right hand and shut his eyes as his head hurt, his chest hurt and his knee hurt. He growled for a moment as he let the pain wash over him and finally the tears of sadness, pain and anger started flowing down his cheeks.

He just wanted the pain to consume him and maybe put him out of his misery, but he felt the softest of touches on his right hand. The soft pads of finger tips brushed across his fingers until they took hold and pulled his hand away from his head. He looked up and saw the kindest eyes he had ever seen and the sweetest smile. She lifted her left hand and gently padded away the tears.

She whispered, "It's going to be okay."

The brown eye boy whispered out in a pain laden voice, "Really? I don't see how and I don't know where to go from here."

The redhead nodded slightly then moved to his left to place his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist to grasp his right hip. She looked up at him hopefully and answered, "Well tonight, you're going upstairs to try and get some sleep then in the morning you're going to the bathroom to have a nice shower or bath then you're going to the kitchen to have a nice breakfast. Then we'll figure out where you're going next."

He snorted out a defeated manner and allowed the girl to lead him and help him up the stairs. They reached her room a few moments later and she walked him over to have a seat on the edge of her bed. She took a seat at her desk, a reverse of where they had been earlier that night, and started untying his shoes. Once she undid his laces and pulled his tennis shoes off, she helped him get his legs up on the bed and taking great care of not exacerbating the pain in his knee. She took a few moments to massage his knee and tried to warm it up.

Cat stopped when she heard a sigh of relief from Freddie's lips. The redhead smiled and kissed the top of his knee before she walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in with him and pulled the covers over the both of them. She snuggled up to him and held him close as he finally let the weariness of the day and night let him drift off to sleep. She lifted her head slightly and kissed his temple before snuggling back and into place and allowing herself to fall asleep.

Freddie groaned slightly as he blinked open his eyes as some of the suns rays illuminated the room. He took a deep breath and felt a small weight on his chest. He finally started focusing his eyes and realized a female arm was resting on his chest. He was caught in a moment of confusion as to why such a thing was possible until he turned his head slightly to see a beautiful face with a look of peaceful contentment still asleep. The rush of memories from the night before hit him and he realized that everything last night had happened. He wanted to groan at that realization, but didn't want to wake up the sleeping beauty.

The redhead began to stir a few moments later then finally opening her eyes. She immediately smiled as she saw the brown eye boy look at her with a smile. "Morning," she whispered.

"Morning," he replied hesitantly. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond waking up next to a beautiful girl in the morning.

"Did you sleep well?"

Freddie took a moment to reflect at how he slept then replied, "I think I slept pretty well."

"I'm glad to hear. I'll tell you a secret," she giggled with her conspiratorial whisper.

"What's that?"

"You're a nice teddy bear to sleep with."

Freddie couldn't help but start laughing for a few moments. "Well you're a nice sleeping companion too."

She smiled and kissed his nose. Once she pulled back a little, he leaned forward and captured her lips. From the taste of his own mouth, he realized he had morning breath, but she didn't seem to mind as she reciprocated very quickly. His right hand cupped her cheek as she lifted up slightly to get one of her knees under her to have better leverage and braced herself with her left hand on his chest.

It was a strange feeling for Freddie as this was the first time he had initiated the kissing and a flurry of different emotions started running through his head, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. He ignored the unpleasant ones and just enjoyed the moment of kind tenderness she was showing him. A moment later he felt a shift in the bed and realized that she had lifted her left knee and was now straddling him just above his waist and leaning over to kiss him. She cupped both his cheeks with her hands as his right hand slid down her cheek, neck and her side, just grazing the side an intimate area (and apparently mewed in approval from the brief contact) before resting on her hip as his left hand grazed up her leg then her mostly bare thigh (she giggled into their kisses from that contact) until it rested on the other side of her hip as well.

They were slow and gentle kisses exchanged between them without any feeling have having to rush. He could feel her passion in her kisses, but he'd describe it as in the form of a gently licking of a flame of a candle as opposed to being a torch ready to consume them in a fire. He realized that she liked playing cat and mouse with her kissing as well as rubbing her nose against his as if she was a cat. She'd pull back slightly to get him to lift his head slightly to try and catch her, only for her to quickly come back down and catch him off guard. She'd then giggle and rub her nose against his nose affectionately.

They continued on this way for a few minutes even as Freddie lost track of time. She lifted her head after giving him one last kiss and climbed off of him and out of bed. "I am hunger and I need some breakfast. I'll go downstairs and start making some for us while you do all your boy things you has to do in the morning to make yourself all cute and handsome. I want to show you L.A. today."

Freddie chuckled and shook his head. "Okay, I'll go do that while you make some breakfast."

She nodded then literally skipped out of the room.

The brown eye teenager shook his head and smirked as he wiped the bottom of his lip off with his thumb. _It's going to be an interesting day._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Freddie as he reflected on breakfast with the Valentines as he was sitting on the front porch steps, wearing his favorite blue and white plaid button up shirt and blue jeans he had originally packed to wear on their trip back to Seattle, waiting for Cat to come down from showering and dressing. The breakfast was an interesting experience to say the least for Freddie. Cat's father was a man of little words and her brother was… peculiar, but her mother was particularly friendly towards Freddie and none seemed to mind that he had spent the night.

He sent off a quick text message to his mother in the hopes to prevent her from worrying. Of course, he failed to mention where he was currently located. He didn't tell her he was going to L.A. and he was certainly not going to tell her that he had stayed there with a beautiful girl overnight. He then slipped his phone into his pocket and waited for the redhead.

He didn't have to wait much longer as the front door opened and Cat skipped down and took a seat beside him. She was wearing a light aqua colored top with small straps that showed much of her shoulders (well, the parts that her long red velvet hair did not cover) and all of her arms. Freddie nervously cleared his throat when he realized how short her white shorts she was wearing. She finished her outfit with a pair of big rimmed sunglasses and a large brown leather purse/backpack.

He felt kind of perverted as he glanced at her legs. At this point it didn't matter to him if she was doing that on purpose or not, they could be quite hypnotic. He shook that out of his mind and smiled to her before chocking out, "Hi."

She giggled at his bashful expression then kissed his cheek. "Hi, so… where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere you want to show me," he replied with a warm smile.

Pacific Park  
>Santa Monica Pier<p>

After a short taxi ride, the pair reached Santa Monica Pier and a short distance away from Pacific Park. It was just after eleven and park was just opening. The time finally hit Freddie that he had slept in late and had a fairly late breakfast (he did wonder back on how long they had made out in bed, but he wasn't going to complain about the use of time for that activity), so half the daylight was gone, but he was going to enjoy the sunlight he had left.

Cat took him by the hand and led him towards the amusement park on the pier. The sights, sounds and people were a little overwhelming for Freddie for a moment, but didn't seem to faze the redhead as she led the brown eye teenager through the park.

She suddenly stopped in front of one of the gaming booths. It was a fairly familiar staple of a game for an amusement park: a simple game of throwing a ball to knock over the old milk bottles. The variety of colorful stuffed animals apparently grabbed Cat's attention. She gave Freddie an innocent child like look and knew instantly what she wanted him to do for her.

Freddie shook his head and relented. It seemed simple enough to Freddie. _And simple enough to rig to make the customer look like a fool_, ran through his mind. However, he shrugged a shoulder and paid the operator for the chance at the game. It was a little cliché that he was trying to win a stuff toy for his… _date_, but he could use a little normalcy after the last several days.

Freddie pulled back then chucked the ball at the bottles. It was an easy shot and the ball easily knocked over the bottles. He turned and smiled at the redhead. She grinned and clapped her hands, genuine excited that he had knocked over the bottles.

"And the man wins a prize for his lady," the operator announced with surprisingly genuine enthusiasm. "What would you like?"

The redhead pointed to the stuffed giraffe and the operator handed her the stuff toy. She immediately hugged the stuffed animal and surprised the redhead with making a funny grunting noise. She blinked at the toy for just a moment then started laughing. Freddie just shook his laugh and let out a chuckle at the amusement she got out of the toy.

After a few more games, Cat decided to take him to one of the main attractions of the park: the solar-powered Ferris wheel. Once they took their seat, Cat snuggled up to Freddie and wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her close as she held on to her stuffed giraffe that made inappropriate noises. She squeezed the midsection and the toy made an odd grunting noise that brought a giggle out of the redhead. Freddie didn't understand and shook his head, but more importantly, he didn't care if he understood her enjoyment of the toy. She was happy and that was enough understanding for him.

It was a beautiful sight of the beach and the open ocean as they traveled around the wheel… almost as beautiful as the girl he was spending the day. He realized that it was kind of corny, but he couldn't escape the truth. She was quite beautiful on the outside and he was learning very quickly that she was just as or more beautiful on the inside. He thought that it was the perfect opportunity to talk, but he realized any words would spoil the moment. He just needed to enjoy the moment as he did with a brunette girl once at the Groovy Smoothie. He kissed the redhead's temple as she focused her attention on the stuffed animal. He whispered to her, "What do you want to do next?"

She looked up at him and smirked. "Oh, I have an idea of a place you might enjoy."

Freddie didn't know how long they had been riding in a taxi when if finally came to a stop, because Cat had insisted in covering his eyes for the entire ride. She had said it was a surprise and that she hoped he liked it. They exited the yellow vehicle and Freddie kept his eyes close as she paid the driver. Once the driver was paid, Cat led him by the arm a few feet and whispered, "Okay, you can open your eyes."

He stopped in his tracks as he saw where she had taken him: The Griffith Observatory.

She walked up beside him and whispered, "You like Galaxy Wars, so I assumed you like space, so…"

Freddie started laughing and covered his mouth with both of his hands. He looked to her and her beautiful smile. He took the one step needed and hugged the teenager. He then lifted her off of her feet to spin her in the air. She replied by kissing him on the cheek before he sat her back down on her feet. He took her hand and quickly led her towards the three domed building.

They quickly purchased tickets and were able to make it for the 12:45 p.m. showing. The couple at this point made their way down an isle to find the quickly filling up planetarium with Cat still tightly holding on to her giraffe, but being careful not for it to make any noise. They were able to find a pair of seats with a few spaces empty to the nearest neighboring observer and get comfortable just as the lights were being lowered. They then looked up at the ceiling lighted only by the representation of the stars. Cat leaned over to rest her head on Freddie's shoulder and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before turning her attention up to the ceiling. She continued to hug the giraffe close to her as the pair gazed at the starting of the presentation.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment of the story. If you enjoyed it, please drop a review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I'd like to thank all of you that have read and those that have reviewed this story so far. I hope you continued to enjoy this story that explores the Cat/Freddie and Creddie relationships.**

Chapter 8

Cat covered her mouth from her laughter and joy as they exited the planetarium. "That was so much fun!" she shouted as she looked to the brown eye boy. "All the lights and sounds and pretty pictures, I didn't realize how beautiful the universe could be. I thought it was all black. Now I think I know why you like it."

"Yeah, I think more people would appreciate it and wouldn't be so forthcoming with the jokes if they experienced it like that… thank you for the treat. I really appreciate it," he replied with a big smile plastered on his face.

She bit her lower lip for a moment before she took a step forward to invade his person space and capture his lips in a soft, short kissed. Cat grinned as she pulled back and looked to the brown eye boy. "You're welcome. So, what do you want to do next?"

Freddie raised an eyebrow and gave her his boyish smirk. "Maybe grab something to eat?"

Before she could reply, the redhead's PearPhone rang and she slipped her hand into her brown purse/backpack to pull it out. She smiled as she answered the phone, "Oh, hi Tori." She listened for a moment and nodded her head to whatever was being said on the other end. "One, sec," she replied and looked to Freddie. "Tori's invited me out for lunch. Do you want to go?"

Freddie thought about it for a moment then answered, "Sure."

She turned her attention back to her phone and asked, "Is it okay that I bring Freddie?"

She grinned as she heard the answer and replied, "Okay, we'll be there in a little while." She pressed the end call button on her phone and asked Freddie, "I forgot to ask, but do you like Chinese food?"

Wok Star Restaurant  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Cat led Freddie into the Chinese Restaurant where Tori, André, Beck and Jade were already sitting at a table. The all nodded with hesitant, but friendly smiles as the pair took their seats with the quartet. Cat sat her stuffed giraffe in her lap. The others at the tables just exchanged looks for a moment, but decided to ignore the toy for the time being.

Tori was the first to greet them, "Hey Cat, hello Freddie."

"Tori," he replied with a friendly nod. The teenagers then exchanged some awkward greetings as apparently last night's events were still fresh on their minds.

The waiter then approached with two menus for the new pair and they quickly ordered their lunch. A few minutes later, the waiter returned to the relatively silenced table with their meals.

After a few minutes of eating, Freddie chuckled, "No awkwardness…"

"Well your friend did call Cat a 'skunkbag', whatever that is," Jade remarked with a cold smirk.

Freddie met the girl's eyes with a cold glare the same way he would Sam when she pushed too far even for her. "I'm not going to defend her because it's indefensible and… she doesn't defend me, so I don't feel any need to defend her anymore."

Jade was slightly taken aback from the look he was giving her.

"But she's your friend?" Tori asked with a raised eyebrow somewhat shocked that he would say that even if it was true.

He turned his attention towards the Caucasian/Latino descended teenager. "Not to be rude Tori, but you don't know me or Carly or Sam. You see us for half an hour once a week playing various characters. You have no idea what my life is with those two."

"So what happened last night to cause what we saw happen? If you don't mind me asking," Tori finished a little nervous wondering if she crossed a line asking a question.

Freddie let out a tired breath before answering, "I kind of went off on her after she said something about Steven."

Tori swallowed down the pain at the mention of the name. She may have enjoyed paying him back, but the pain of finding out she was being two timed was not going to go away in one day.

"We disagreed on whether I could beat him up for what he did to the both of you. She said that he would pound me silly because I was all nerdy. I wanted to originally correct her on her false assumption and one thing led to another about our friendship and I walked out on her."

Tori poked his bicep just under his rolled up sleeve then gave him a perplex look.

Freddie laughed, "I know; I don't understand it either. Rehab was very good."

"Sorry about the knee," she replied with a genuine regretful tone.

Freddie shrugged a shoulder. "You do what you have to do for the ones you love."

Beck held up his glass. "Well said."

Freddie nodded his appreciation of the gestured. He looked towards all the teenagers and continued, "I think what was the final straw was that she hit me for having the nerve to say you were good looking while she was dating Steven. I didn't realize at first how much that bothered me."

Tori was lost for words for a moment, but was finally able to ask, "She hit you?"

"I was just as shocked as you. I expect that from Sam, she does it on a regular basis."

Cat blinked and gave him a worried expression. "Wait, Sam hits you?"

Freddie looked down at the table and released a tired breath. "Yes, Sam hits me and everyone thinks it's a joke even though they see me in pain. She's a lot stronger than she looks," he replied then looked to Tori. "She was ready to beat you with her butter sock and you saw how little she cared whether she hurt you or not."

Jade asked with a raised eyebrow, "Butter sock?"

"She puts a few sticks of butter in a sock and beats people with it. It works really well."

André looked back and forth between Freddie and Cat for a moment before asking, "Aren't you exaggerating?"

"She can throw me over her shoulder and carry me. What am I suppose to do? Hit her back? Yeah like a guy hitting a girl goes over well even if she uses me for a punching bag," he shook his head in disgust.

Cat took in a deep breath before patting the side of Freddie's arm. The brown eye teenager turned to her and tried to reassure her with a brief smile. It seemed to calm her and she returned the gesture with a small smile of her own.

André's smile left his face from the serious look the Tech-Producer was giving him. "I guess not."

Tori blinked as she finally realized what Freddie had said earlier about why Carly had hit him. "Wait, Carly hit you because you said I was pretty?"

"Sam found a picture of you and Steven and I commented on you to them. Carly did like that, so she hit me with an orange. She chucked it at me pretty good. Hit me right in the spine."

Jade smirked and shook her head. "Of course you said she was pretty."

Freddie looked to Jade and narrowed his eyes on the pale teenager. "I didn't see your picture or I would have said the same thing. Are you going to argue against the fact that you're pretty?"

Jade leaned back in her seat from the question.

Freddie pointed to Beck. "I think he would agree with me."

The actor laughed then looked to his girlfriend. "I agree with him."

"Charmers, the both of you," she countered with a smirk.

Freddie laughed before replying, "I've been called worst." He then looked to Cat who quickly joined him for a brief laugh.

Beck spoke up, "Wait, if they treated you that bad, why would you be their friend for so long?"

"Because I'm… I was in love with Carly. I've been in love with her since I was in sixth grade and you do a lot of stupid stuff when you're in love. I bet you can relate."

Beck looked to Jade and smiled as he answered, "Yes I can."

Jade allowed herself a small smile and displayed a self-assured look on her face.

"Last night I finally realized that she really didn't care about me. I think she thinks she cared about me, but if she did, she wouldn't treat me the way she has over the last few years. Now my friendships are done and I have to start over, because I'm not going back to being treated that way. I'm sorry that all of you got dragged into our personal problems."

The other teenagers then looked to one another as the processed what they had heard over the last few minutes.

Freddie glanced at them for a moment or so before stating, "I'd hate to imply anything against any of you by asking, but… I'm not going to see what I just told you on the internet am I?"

Tori shook her head. "No, we're not going to repeat anything said at this table."

"Thank you, I appreciate the discretion."

After a few more minute of eating their lunch, Tori asked, "Cat, could I talk to you for a second in private?"

"Okay?" she asked unsure.

Tori got up and gestured towards the bathroom where Cat followed the brunette and surprisingly, Jade following the both of them.

Once the girls were out of earshot, Beck asked hesitantly, "So you spent the night… was that all you did?"

Freddie frowned for a moment as he eyed the Canadian born. In a chilly tone, Freddie answered, "I'm not sure how that's any of your business."

"I think it is if something happened that wasn't supposed to happen then it becomes our business. She's our friend and we don't want anything to happen to her or… anyone taking advantage of her,"

Freddie chuckled. "It's funny you put it that way, she promised she wouldn't take advantage of me and she didn't."

Beck and André looked to one anther to see if the other heard what was just said.

The brown eye boy laughed at their reactions.

As soon as the girls entered the bathroom, Tori asked, "So is he your boyfriend now?"

"Ah… we haven't discussed it. We're… just trying to have a good time and… he is a good kisser," the redhead replied with grin.

The teenage girls looked to one another and exchanged concern looks with Jade blinking once or twice and Tori trying to speak. Jade was able to find her voice first and ask, "Where did he sleep last night?"

"Oh, with me. He makes a nice teddy bear."

Jade looked worried as she asked, "Cat, don't you think maybe you're moving a little quickly? Did you two…"

"Do what?" she replied with a curious look at the pair. After a moment, she realized what Jade was asking. Cat shook her head vigorously. "No, he was a perfect gentleman. He was having a really bad night and I was just trying to comfort him. She… she really hurt him. You heard what she said to him. He didn't deserve that and now I find out what she did…" Cat frowned and started getting angry. Jade hadn't seen her look that mad since the rigging of the karaoke song a few weeks ago. "How could she be so mean to him?"

Tori let out a soft breath and frowned as she replied, "I don't know."

Cat took a deep breath and released it as she tried to calm down and continued, "I really like him."

"But Cat… he lives in Seattle and…" Tori looked to Jade for help.

The raven haired teenager sighed then continued, "We don't want you to get hurt, especially if he still has feelings for Carly even after last night. If he's really been in love with her since sixth grade, that's not going to go away overnight even after last night."

Cat looked down at the floor. "After we sung karaoke last night, I told him that he shouldn't give up even after her picking Steven, but Carly broke his heart anyway. I realized how nice and sweet he is… I didn't mean to, but…"

Tori patted her friend's shoulder. "It's alright Cat, it happens."

Jade looked more concerned. "Yeah, but he's still on the rebound even if they weren't together."

She gave them a sad look. "So you're saying I shouldn't try?"

Her sad expression hit Tori in the chest and caught her off guard, however, Jade was quicker in a reply, "Just that you should be careful."

Cat's frown turned into a small smile. "I will. Thank you for caring."

Tori grinned and replied, "You're welcome Cat."

Jade shook her head as she tried to suppress an embarrassed look on her face. "Whatever."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The trio of girls exited the bathroom and approached the table as the guys chatted and eating with cheerful camaraderie. The ladies took their seats to continue eating and André suggested, "Since we're already out, why don't we give Freddie the grand tour of L.A. and make his last few hours a blast? Unless of course we're intruding little red?"

Cat looked to Freddie in the hopes of gauging what he thought of the idea. He smiled and shrugged a shoulder. "I'm just along for the ride, whatever you want to do Caterina."

The redhead grinned and replied, "Okay, I think that will be fun."

After spending several hours taking a grand tour around L.A. with the rest of the Hollywood Art students, Cat and Freddie were back in her room setting up an interesting video to Freddie that Cat planned to put on her Slap page. He went ahead and set up his camera and laptop so he could upload the video for her when they were done. The redhead was sitting in front of the camera with an empty seat on her left.

Once the camera started recording, she began, "Hi, I'm Cat, but you already know that if you're watching my video off . As you may know, I've made of a series of videos where I interview cute guys and I wanted to make another quick one because I have a particularly cute guy here today and I couldn't pass up the chance to interview him."

She waved him over to have a seat beside her and in front of the camera. Freddie took his seat waved at the camera with a smile, "Hi."

"The cute guy for this video is my special guest, Freddie Benson. You may know him from iCarly. He's the one that makes the show possible with the web-casting and all the production behind it." She then looked to him with a big grin on her face and continued, "Thanks for being here."

"I'm happy to be here as one of your interviewees," he replied with a light chuckle.

She pulled some of her red velvet hair behind her left ear then started, "Okay, so other than your amazing talents in video production what are some of your hobbies? I think people would love to know about Freddie Benson. I know I would," she giggled at the last then poked his abdomen with a finger.

Freddie laughed and shook his head before replying, "Well, I'm a big fan of World of Warlords and I love playing that in my spare time. I'm a huge fan of Galaxy Wars. Ah, I use to fence. My grandfather was a famous fencer; he was the 'Fencing Benson'. I had to give it up because of my knee after my little incident with a taco truck, _but_ I'm not going to let that stop me. I'm going to start back up on my fencing when I get back to Seattle."

Cat grinned and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

Freddie cleared his throat as he looked to the redhead. "Interesting interview technique: give a cheek kiss to the interviewee?"

"What do you expect when you're such a cute boy?"

"Not that, I'd have to admit," he replied with a soft chuckle.

"Ah, what kinds of hair color do you like on a girl? Red?" She lifted some of her strands hair as an example.

He smirked at her and realized two could play at this game. He bumped his shoulder playfully with hers and replied, "I like red as long as it is the color of red velvet cupcakes. Do you know anyone with that hair color?"

She quickly covered her mouth to cover the laugh that overtook her. The redhead calmed down after a few moments as asked, "So anything else you'd like to share before we go?"

"I speak fluent Spanish without ever studying the language. I don't know how I do that," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

Cat tilted her head to the side. "Now that's interesting, but one last question."

"Okay?"

"What's your favorite musical note?"

"I don't know?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Let me sing you a few then you can tell me which one you like the best." She then proceeded to sing several notes and Freddie was stunned at her ability until after the last note she gave him a peck on the lips. "So, which one is your favorite?"

Freddie blushed for a moment the chuckled out a response, "I was partial to the third one at first, but there was just something about that last night that put it over the top. I can't figure out what it was though."

She bit her bottom lip and eyed him playfully for a moment before looking back at the camera. "Well that's all the time we have, so bye!" she waved off and Freddie reached over to click off the camera then turned to look at her with a smile. "That was fun, but how many cute boys have you had over to do that?"

"Why? Are you jealous?" She bit her lower lip before letting out a giggle.

"No…"

She frowned at her answer, but quickly blushed as he finished, "But I just might be if in anymore future videos are with cute boys that aren't me."

"You would?"

He leaned forward. "Maybe?"

She cupped both his cheeks and pulled him into deep kiss. He returned the kiss and reached over to rest his hands on her hips. Her hands moved to his shoulders as he kissed across her lower cheek until he reached her ear. He gave a quick kiss around her earring that elicited a soft giggle from her lips. The giggling didn't last long as his kissed started trailing down her neck and she started making soft mewing sounds. He then started trailing kisses across her shoulder until he noticed a beauty mark on her right shoulder/arm. The brown eye boy couldn't resist giving it a small chaste kiss before starting his way back the same path to reach her lips.

Once he reached her lips, she started putting more force behind them and moved her arms up to wrap around the back of his neck. She finally had to pull back to catch her breath a few moments later and looked him straight in the eyes. "I figured out another one of your talents."

"What's that?"

"You're a very good kisser," she giggled out and wrinkled her nose.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I'll have to remember that talent."

She nodded. "Yes you do." She then dived in for another kiss.

After making out for probably a half an hour and spending another one looking for the best deals to get back to Seattle on his laptop sitting at Cat's desk, he found a nice deal in flying back instead of a long bus ride to get home. He turned and looked to the happy redhead sitting on her bed still playing with her giraffe. She had straightened out her hair and the flush finally left her cheeks. He spoke with a heavier heart than he expected, "I can take a flight out by seven tonight and be home by ten."

She looked over to him, but smile faltered as she replied, "That's nice."

"Yeah," he replied as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

She simply frowned as she asked, "So this is goodbye?"

Freddie cleared his throat as he looked at her soft brown eyes. It had been a painful weekend and it was about to end with more pain, but that didn't mean he was going to stand by and let the universe have another laugh at him. He was going to make the first decision of his new life, right or wrong.

"I've been thinking about that, it doesn't have to be like our first conversation last night. People have long distance friendships and the internet has made that easier and you know the summer is just around the corner and there has to be plenty of internships for the summer in LA. It shouldn't be too hard for me to find one. I know you could probably find a production internship for me faster than I can since you go to Hollywood Arts."

"You'd want to spend the summer with me?"

"I'd like that…" he whispered out. "I'm still dealing with… my life and I have a lot of it to still figure out where I go from here and Carly still has a huge chunk of my heart, even if she has broken it, but I can't put my life on hold anymore. I may screw this up and I can't promise you it will work out, because I'm probably not ready for any kind of relationship, but… I'd like to explore _this_, what we have right now."

She swung her legs out to sit on the edge of her bed so she could face him. "You think we have something?"

"I haven't been treating what we've been doing as a joke. I'm not using you just to ease the pain… at least I hope I'm not. I thought that we've had a little bit of a spark and I don't mean just about the kissing."

"I know you haven't been using me. I think we do have a little spark. When I told you that you shouldn't give up on Carly, I meant it, but now… I kind of have a little crush on you. I just wanted to help, not make things any more confusing for you. I don't want to take advantage of you."

He scooted up with the chair to get closer to the bed. "You're not taking advantage of me Cat, but being honest with me. It's up to you: we can part as friends and remember these two days with no regrets or… we can take it nice and slow and figure out what we want."

She looked down at her lap for a moment as thought over his words. She lifted her head and in a bashful whisper replied, "Slow and steady? Like the tortoise?"

Freddie cracked a grin and replied warmly, "Just like the tortoise."

She smiled and let out a soft laugh. The redhead glanced at her digital clock and saw that they had about two hours before his flight. "We have a little time, so do you want to take a little time to be slow and steady?"

He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss. "I'd love to, so how about we play a little game."

Her eyes lit up at the possibility. "What kind of game?"

"The same one we played last night so we can keep learning what make each other us, but if we don't feel like answering a question, we can give a kiss instead of an answer."

Cat bit her lower lip and a mischievous glint shined in her eyes. "I like this game. I go first!" She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I hope to have more ****up****soon**** on Thursday. Take care until then.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hello dear readers. I have another installment for you. Thank you all once again for reading and taking the time to review.**

Chapter 10

Los Angeles International Airport  
>1 World Way<br>Los Angeles, CA

Freddie was sitting in one of the rows of seats as he was waiting for the boarding call to this seven o'clock flight. Cat was sitting on his right resting her head on his shoulder. The redhead was holding his right hand and their fingers were absently playing with one another. They were sitting in silence watching as the waiting passengers walked passed as they went about their own destinations. They weren't entirely alone as the rest of Cat's friends were sitting in another row giving them a last few minutes of privacy before biding their farewells to the teenager they considered a new friend.

Cat whispered as she focused on the hand that she held in both of her hands, "Call me when you get home?"

Freddie turned his head slightly and smiled at the adorable redhead. "Yes, I will call you when I get home."

"Good, I want to know that you're safe and…" she bit her lip as she was hesitant in continuing.

"What?"

She lifted her head off his shoulder and met his soft brown eyes with her own brown eyes. "You know that you still have a line back here before the summer."

He lifted his head and kissed her forehead. "I'll remember."

She smiled back then rested her head back on his shoulder.

A few minutes later the boarding call was announced for his flight. The pair got up from their seats and headed for the boarding gate. He stopped to face the redhead and the other Hollywood Art students that trailed behind them. Freddie then approached each one of them to start his bids of farewell.

He stopped in front of Beck and André first and began, "It's been fun guys. It's been great hanging with you; I just wish we would have caught that panda bear."

André nodded and replied with a hint of annoyance, "I do too, Kenan is still mad he can't catch that bear."

Freddie chuckled and nodded his head. André offered a hand and Freddie clasped it then they shared a one arm hug and pat on the back. Freddie then looked to the long haired teenager. Beck patted the brown eye teenager on the shoulder. "It's been a blast man. We hope to see you soon."

"Thanks," he replied with a nod. He looked to Robbie and Rex. "Keep practicing your rapping."

Rex spoke up, "Will do man. I want a rematch with Puckett."

"Can't help you there," Freddie replied with a shrug of his shoulder.

The brown eye teenager then looked to the pale raven haired teenager that approached, "Jade, you're one mean girl, but…"

"But what?" she asked with a hint of irritation in her voice and a furled brow.

He grinned at her and replied, "You're a softy underneath it all and I'm glad to know you. Beck's lucky to have you." Freddie took a moment to whistle. "And the beauty of a goddess."

Jade cleared her throat in surprise of the compliment and had to fight the urge to blush. She finally nodded her head and choked out, "Charmer."

Freddie laughed and shook his head as Jade allowed herself to smile. She then leaned forward and shared a brief hug, but before she let go, she whispered in his ear, "Sam gives you any more problems let me know. I'll show her the true meaning of the word pain."

Freddie snorted out a laugh as they pulled apart and they shared a brief smile. He then faced Tori and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry this is how we had to meet, but I'm glad we did."

The brunette allowed herself a brief smile and gave a nod. "Me too."

Freddie let out a tired breath and continued, "Next time I see Steven, I am going to pound him silly because you are beautiful girl and shouldn't have been treated that way."

Tori looked down and tried to suppress the blush. "Thanks Freddie. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will."

The singer pulled him into a quick hug and for some odd reason he flashed backed in his mind to hugging Shelby Marx. He thought maybe it was the scent of the hair. She pulled back a moment later and shared a brief smile.

Freddie then turned to the last person he needed to say goodbye: the smiling redhead that had a hint of sadness in her eyes. The rest of the group respectfully took a few steps back to give them one last moment of privacy.

The redhead began, "So…"

"So… I'll see you when I see you?"

She nodded and gave him a small, but sincere smile. Freddie took a deep breath and closed the distance between them to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss catching him off guard for a moment, but quickly wrapping his arms around the small of the back of the shorter girl.

The Hollywood Arts students looked to each other and shared embarrassed looks and awkward grins. Rex's 'jaw' dropped and Robbie didn't look too pleased either.

Cat pulled back and grinned at her brown eye boy. She whispered, "One for the road?"

"I guess for the air this time," he whispered back with a smile playing in his lips.

The shared a brief laugh then reluctantly let go of one another. He slowly started walking towards the boarding gate with his backpack on his back. He looked back to give all of them a final nod and a brief smile to the redhead girl that cared.

Cat let out a sad sigh and her shoulders slumped when he was out of sight. Tori walked up beside her and wrapped an arm around Cat's shoulders in the hopes of comforting her. "You'll see him again."

Cat remained silent as she watched the spot where her brown eye boy had stood.

Bushwell Plaza

Seattle, WA

It was approaching ten that night when Freddie finally reached his front door. He had to say it wasn't a bad flight. The seat wasn't that bad and he didn't have to put up with anyone bothering him, he thought back on as he pulled out his keys. He had unlocked the lock and was pushing the door open when he heard the door behind him opened up.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose up as he didn't want to deal with anyone on the other side of the door. He was about to ignore the feeling and just step inside the safety of his apartment, but he heard the softest of feminine whispers, "Freddie?"

He battled internally for a moment on whether he should turn around and face her or just step inside and worry about it tomorrow. He gritted his teeth for a moment before turning around and facing the brunette. That part of him that cared for her flared up when he saw her appearance, but he fought the urge to let his concern appear on his face. He kept a stoic appearance as best he could manage.

Carly was wearing haphazardly thrown together nightwear of an oversize T-shirt and one size too big sweatpants that hung on her slouching frame as she crossed her arms as some way of comforting herself. Her hair was stringy as it hung on either side of her face. She had dark circles under her bloodshot eyes and the end of her nose was slightly red the best he could tell because she tried to keep her head down and looked to the floor.

He spoke first in a slightly harsh tone, "What were you doing? Staring out the peephole waiting for me to get home?"

"Yes," she whispered in barely an audible sound.

The irony of their reverse circumstances was not lost on him and he would have been flattered two days ago, but tonight it was what he had told her in Cat's front yard: too little, too late.

He shrugged a shoulder and asked the obvious question, "Why?"

She lifted her head to finally meet his eyes and she flinched and took in a sharp breath. He realized he must be giving her a cold stare, but he felt it was the most honest look he could give her. He may have cared that she looked like a wreck, but that didn't mean he wasn't any less disgusted with her. Unfortunately, that's what his anger from last night had turned into: a mild disgust and resentment with her.

The stringy haired brunette whispered with a hurt voice, "I… I wanted to tell you I'm sorry… I messed up beyond belief and I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could start over from that day before we started iCarly and fix every one of my mistakes with you. I want you in my life and I don't want you to say goodbye to me. Please don't leave me."

Freddie studied her for a moment trying to assess her. He remembered back to the other times she appeared upset and they had all been genuine expressions of regret, but always for other people, never him. That last bit suppressed his compassion to her state of being.

He asked in a guarded tone, "You're sorry?"

Carly nodded nervously.

Freddie nodded and smirked as he raised an eyebrow. "Let me tell you what happened the last time a girl told me she was sorry. She apologized to me for making my life miserable after she embarrassed me thoroughly about saying I never kissed a girl. She was all apologetic, said she was really sorry for what she did to me and she was all sad about it and like a fool I accepted her so called apology even when she said she going to keep making my life miserable. Two weeks later she broke a tennis racket over my head while you stood by and did _nothing_ so that you could end your fan war by pleasing a guy you had never met. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I'm just a dumbass. So tell me why I should accept your apology and risk going through that again? Why should I give you another chance?"

Carly let out a breath and tried to hold back the tears as she looked at his angry brown eyes. "Because you giving me another chance is my last chance. If I mess up then that's it and I've lost you just as surely if you had died that day from the Taco truck. You'll cut me out of your life and hate me for the rest of it."

The smirk left his face and was replaced by a cold stare. "So this is still about you? _Your_ lost. _You_ having someone out there that isn't evil that may hate you when everyone is suppose to love the great Carly Shay."

The first tears started rolling and in a pleading voice she asked, "Please don't twist my words."

He took a step forward, forgetting the swinging door to his apartment behind him, and stared her straight in the eyes. "You mean like how you twisted the knife in me when you said I never loved you? Love was never a problem on my end, romantic or otherwise."

She blinked as the tears started flowing and blurring her vision. She reached up and placed a hand over the center of her upper chest as it started aching. The brunette could barely choke out her next words, "Please stop… please stop hurting me."

His mind screamed to show her the compassion she apparently needed, but another voice in the recesses of his mind demanded another course of action. He took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm not trying to hurt you… I'm just showing you the cold hard truth. It's up to you how you react."

She sniffled as wiped some of the tears away with the back of her hand. Before she could collect herself enough to respond, he asked, "Are those tears for me or yourself?

She blinked and snapped out of her grief for a moment to process his question.

In a stern voice he asked as he stared into those bloodshot brown eyes, "Where were your tears for me when I was humiliated by anyone that crossed our path, _especially Sam_, or when I was used as her punching bag or when someone disregarded what I said or I was just made fun of for existing? Every time you got hurt it hurt me, but when it happened to me it was just a shrug of your shoulders and just another day of being Freddie Benson. Why couldn't you just…"

He let out a breath as his anger seemed to evaporate with the exhaling of his breath.

She saw her opening and in a soft tone asked, "Why couldn't I what?"

In a tired breath he replied, "Why couldn't you care about me just as much as you do Sam? Even if you never loved me romantically, why couldn't you treat me like her?"

She looked down at their feet and whispered, "I don't know. Maybe I didn't realize how much you got hurt or maybe I was just I didn't want to lose my best friend with her thinking I was replacing her with you."

Freddie nodded, "The second explanation might fly if I didn't watch you treat Missy the same way and willing to defend her from Sam. If she would have hit Missy, you would have ended your friendship with Sam, but it doesn't matter, you lost one anyway, if I ever truly was one." He then turned and head into his apartment, but she grabbed his right arm to stop him. He turned to look to her in surprise.

"Please?" she begged and looked to him with terrified eyes.

Freddie glared at her and she let go of his arm, but something pricked at him not to just turn away from her and go into his apartment. He dug and dug and all he found was layers of hatred, loathing and anger until he found that one spark of what still made him Freddie that all those emotions had swallowed up.

He let out another tired breath and asked, "What do you want?"

"I don't want you to go," she whispered as she was desperate in trying to figure out what to say to him to keep him permanently from walking out of her life.

"No, what do you want to happen? We go back to what we were? That's not going to happen. I spent Sunday with a group of people that not once emotionally cut me down or hit me. They were kind and caring and just all around nice people… well, except for Jade, she's kind of mean, but underneath it she's got a heart. I had a wonderful time and I liked it. I'm not going back to my old life, because that died in L.A. My life doesn't have to be miserable and anyone and I mean anyone that wants to try is going to have a rude awakening. So tell me what do you want?"

"I want you to be my best friend again."

"I was never your best friend," he whispered coldly.

The remark cut into her, but she pushed on in an uncertain voice, "Okay, then I want you to become my best friend, my real best friend. I won't standby and let anything happen to you without doing something about it and I won't let Sam hurt you anymore."

"Same protection as Sam and Missy before she went jealous?"

Carly quickly nodded. "Yes."

Freddie took a calming breath before asking, "Is being a part of iCarly contingent on us being friends?"

"I don't understand," she replied with a furled brow.

"If I decide that I didn't want anything to do with iCarly anymore, does that affect our new friendship if I do give you your last chance?"

iCarly hadn't actually crossed her mind over the last eighteen hours, so at first she didn't respond. She finally formed words to reply, "This isn't about you having to be a part of iCarly."

"So if I decided to do that, there wouldn't be any kind of threats from Sam or any guilt tripping me into it because I would be your _best friend_?"

She shook her head. "No, I wouldn't do that. I'm not going to take advantage of our friendship anymore."

Freddie licked his lips and nodded his head. "Okay, I'll put your word to the test: I want a reduced role in iCarly. I'll still be your Technical Producer, but I can't let it be such a priority in my life anymore. There are some other things I want to concentrate on in my life and I need the time to do it."

Carly swallowed down the lump in her throat and looked down for a moment. "I understand."

He had his doubts from her tone and he was too tired and his patients had ran out for doubts, so he replied sternly, "Only if you realize I'm doing this for me not to punish you by trying to sabotage the show. We can still see if Brad's interested in interning and make Gibby start pulling his weight if he wants to be a part of the show to balance out the workload for everyone. Heck, maybe you can get Sam to start pulling her weight. Okay?"

Freddie may have been stern in his voice, but Carly saw the concern he still had for her. She realized that he hadn't lost him completely and she wasn't going to squander it and let a brief smile play on her lips. "Okay, that's fine, that's great. Whatever works for you."

Freddie was caught off guard for a moment by the smile. He cleared his throat and nodded. Another crossroad lay in front of him. In LA he thought he was going to cut her and the rest of them out of his life, but now there was a chance of starting over with them. He may be a fool with either decision, but he was going to make another one, right or wrong.

"Right, well… if that's the case… I'm willing try to get back to friends, but what is between us, is between us. What's between Sam and I is between the two of us and don't you dare take her side over mine if it is clear that she's wrong or I am walking and not coming back. That may be an ultimatum for you, but that's the way it has to be, okay?"

"Okay," she replied shocked that he was willing to give her another chance.

He offered his hand with a hesitant smile. "I'm Fredward Benson, but people call me Freddie."

A small smile formed on her face as she took his hand and gave a light shake. "Carlotta Shay, but people call me Carly."

He was able to finally give her a little smile. "Nice to meet you Carly."

"Likewise," she replied before letting go of his hand.

Freddie cleared his throat. "Well it's been a long weekend and we're both tired and I know I need some sleep, so… see you in the morning?"

Carly took a deep breath and gave a soft smile. "Right, see you in the morning."

He gave her one last nod and turned back to his apartment. He was just past the threshold inside when he heard her call out, "I'm sorry what I called Cat. She's not a skunkbag."

Freddie frowned for a moment. He turned slowly and gave her a neutral expression as he replied, "No she's not, but I'm not the one you owe the apology on that one."

Carly pulled her hair behind her ears and gave a nod. "Right, I'll apologize to her."

"You should do that for your sake and no one else's."

She looked down and scratched an arm absently with her right hand. "Right…well, good night."

"Night, I'll see you in the morning," he answered then shut the door behind him.

Carly stood at her door for a moment staring at the opposite door. She let out a tired breath and for the first time in the long hours between their arguments realized that everything just might work out… all she had to do was not screw it up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I would consider this chapter the start of the "second" part of this story and begins about two weeks after the last chapter.**

Chapter 11

Ridgeway High School  
>Seattle, WA<p>

Freddie was leaning against the row of lockers waiting for Carly as he held his PearPhone to his ear waiting for the other end of the line to pick up. He nodded his head back and forth and rolled his eyes as the phone rang on the other end. The other end picked up, but it wasn't the person that he was trying to contact. The brown eye teenager sighed loudly as his annoyance was finally getting to him as he ended his phone call after getting NorthStar for the forth time that day.

The other two-thirds of the iCarly trio approached and an immediate look of concern appeared on the brunette's face seeing the brown eye teenager's demeanor. She asked as soon as the brown eye teenager looked up to face her, "What's wrong?"

Freddie shook his head and put away his phone into his jean pocket. "I can't get a hold of Cat. She just got a new phone number, but there's some glitch in the system and I keep getting NorthStar."

She arc an eyebrow up and wondered if she had heard him correctly. "You mean that thing they put in cars—"

Freddie nodded his head and continued for her, "For emergency contact in case you're in accident? Yeah, that's the one."

Sam snorted out a laugh and shook her head. Carly heard the blonde mutter under her breath, "Nutty phone for a nutty girl." The brunette would have glared at the girl for the comment, but Freddie apparently didn't hear her and she didn't want to draw his attention to what the blonde had said. She didn't want a fight right now that she knew would get really ugly, really quickly after what happened a few days ago.

The blonde and Tech-Producer were barely on speaking terms after Sam had attempted to hit him that just because she wanted to hurt him, but the brown eye teenager had gave her a good shove to the floor. He meant what he told Carly about not being made miserable anymore and he wasn't going to be her punching bag anymore. The blonde was furious that he had actually fought back and was ready to jump him, but Carly threatened the blonde not to allow her in the apartment for a week if she tried to hurt Freddie. The blonde relented when she realized Carly wasn't joking with her.

Carly suggested hesitantly, "Maybe you should try to call NorthStar; maybe you could get her then. Maybe the glitch goes both ways?"

Freddie snorted out with a grin, "That just might work, but I don't want them to think I'm pranking them."

She answered with a shrug of her shoulder, "You just tell them that you have the wrong number like you've been doing."

The brown eye boy gave her a half smile and gave her a nod. "Thanks, I'll give that a try later."

The brunette smiled in returned, but had an uneasy feeling in her stomach for even suggesting the idea. It was a new feeling that had joined the other ones every time Cat was somehow brought up in conversation. She'd feel the same tension and irritation in her neck and shoulders she did when Freddie had looked at Tori on her computer monitor to see the brunette that Steven had decided he wanted as his other girlfriend. It was also during those times she had to repeat the mantra in her head: _I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not jealous_.

Her anxiety wasn't helped by several other developments over the last two weeks. She had watched Cat's videos of interviewing cute boys and her last one was with her and Freddie. She had stumbled across the video when looking at Cat's Slap page in order to contact her to apologize for the skunkbag comment. The video had as many hits as the most popular videos on iCarly and the comments left for the video were a mixed bag of support for Freddie finding himself a new girl and anger from both Seddies and Creddies of the girl 'stealing' Freddie from either Sam or Carly. She could see why they could be upset, because Cat had kissed Freddie twice, once on the cheek and another one on the lips and he didn't complain nor did he even mention the kiss at all. He not telling her about the kiss made her realize that he really did mean it when he said his life wasn't an open book anymore and he didn't have to tell her everything. _I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not jealous_.

That led to the second thing, Freddie kept the details of his and Cat's relationship as vague as possible. He didn't talk about what happened that night after they left him at Cat's home or go into details about his Sunday. Carly suspected that they were more than just friends from the way his eyes would light up when he got a phone call or text from the redhead, but was terrified of confronting him about it. Sam one time attempted to ferret out the information, but Carly had cut her off as soon as she saw the look of contempt form on Freddie's face towards the blonde. As much as the uncertainty about them bothered her… _I am not jealous, I am not jealous, I am not jealous_ …she couldn't predict how she would feel if she was certain what was the relationship between the pair.

So Cat was a touchy subject and one she stepped carefully around when the subject was brought up.

Carly turned to her locker and opened it to retrieve the items she intended to take home that night. She looked to the brown eye teenager and asked, "So, you want to stop by the Groovy Smoothie before we head home and start rehearsals?"

Freddie leaned his head against another locker and took a deep breath. "Actually that's why I waited for you, I'm going to be busy tonight and every Wednesday from now on, but I should be there for Thursdays and for the broadcast."

Sam rolled her eyes then snarked out, "So you're ditching out on rehearsal on a regular basis?"

He frowned at the blonde and found decided that he would actually respond to her, "I have something to do. Brad will be there, Gibby will be there, what's the problem?"

Sam wrinkled her brow and replied harshly, "What's the problem? You know that iCarly is important to her and you're only there half the time now."

"I know, but it's not _as_ important to me." Freddie motioned to the brunette. "She understands that and respects it and actually appreciates that I'm still helping when I don't have to. _I don't have to help._ I have other things that are just as important to me and I'm not going to devote that amount of time to it anymore. I'm _not_ sorry that you actually have to start contributing to the show."

"Contribute? I'm the other half of iCarly! I'm the other one that does the show!"

"Half of iCarly? You're half of iCarly? Then why are you complaining that I'm not there as much anymore? Silly me, I thought it was the _three_ of us to begin with, but since you make up half and Carly makes up the other half, I guess I'm not needed anymore at all."

"That's not true," Carly cut in with a desperate tone. A shiver went down her spine that he was entertaining the idea in conversation of not being a part of the show. She had told him the truth that he didn't have to be to continue to be friends, but she wanted him there just to have his presence. She had realized in the time between their confrontation two weeks ago and now with his absences due to the new lighter workload, that she missed seeing him everyday they worked on the show.

"Yes it is, we don't need him," Sam countered and gave Carly an annoyed expression.

Freddie snorted out then smirked at the blonde. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if you thought that was true. If there's anyone we don't absolutely need for the show, it's you. We got by with Missy that one time and just fine without you when you decided to try to cause an international incident by shoving a burrito down a foreign dignitary's pants."

Sam glared in response and took a step towards him, pointing a finger in his face. "Watch your mouth Fredweird."

Freddie took a step forward in returned and asked just as harshly, "Or you'll what?"

"Stop!" Carly snapped. She looked to Sam and stated firmly, "We need Freddie." She then looked to the brown eye teenager. "We need Sam."

Freddie chuckled before replying, "No, you _want_ Sam and that's fine, it's your show and your decision. I'm just pointing out the truth: we got by without her."

"Could we please not fight right now?"

Sam replied in an instant, "He started it."

Freddie smirked as he replied, "I'm just playing catch up for the last four years."

Carly looked to the both of them and pleaded, "Please, not now. Freddie, it's fine that you have something to do. I do understand." She then focused her attention to Sam. "Sam, he has things he has to do and he's not ditching us. He's there when we need him and that's that. No more argument about it, okay?"

Sam gritted her teeth and gave a narrow look at the brunette, but finally relented, "Fine."

The tone of Sam's voice told her that it wasn't over, but only put off for another day. Carly shook her head then looked back to Freddie. "So… where are you going? I mean, if you want to tell me."

Freddie let out a sigh. He gave her a look of contemplation as he debated to answer her. He struggled for a few seconds before admitting, "I'm going to my first fencing lesson since the accident. I'm going to see how it works out."

"So you are starting back?" she asked with a hint of surprise in her voice, but also concern.

Freddie blinked and tried to speak as something in her voice caused him to wonder how she knew he was going to start back on his hobby. He didn't get to speak as she interrupted with more concern lacing her voice, "Can you safely do that? You said your knee hurt too much."

The Tech-Producer ran a hand through his hair and replied, "I went to the doctor's last week and he thought I could start back without worrying about hurting myself and that after some initial lessons, the pain would most likely go way. It may even help relieve all my future pain."

Carly gave him a hesitant smile as she relieved for him. "Can I go with you?"

"What? Why?" Freddie responded with an obvious hint of surprise in his voice.

Carly cleared her throat and looked to the floor for a moment before responding, "You said I didn't care enough to respect your hobbies and interests, maybe I could see one first hand and not judge anything on what I _think_ I know about them?" She gave him a hopeful smile hoping that he would agree to her request.

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

Sam blinked and her jaw dropped before asking, "What about iCarly?"

The brunette looked to her irritated friend and replied, "There is plenty for you, Gibby and Brad to do before I get back. I won't be gone the entire rehearsal."

Sam turned her attention back to Freddie and glared.

He had dropped the confused expression from Carly's request and replaced it with one of simply not caring which made Sam even more furious. He looked to Carly and spoke, "We'll head out at four thirty, since practice starts at five. Is that okay with you?"

The brunette nodded. "That's fine."

Sam rolled her eyes and made a sound to verbalize her disgust at the situation. The other two ignored her for a few moments as Carly and Sam finished getting what they needed out of their lockers before heading out the back entrance of the school.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Hello to all my readers and reviewers. I have another installment for you. I hope you are ready for Carly and Freddie's long journey back to friendship.**

Chapter 12

Carly sat down her checklist on Freddie's tech cart as she was about to head down and to meet up with Freddie. "So I should be back by six-thirty or seven then we can do a quick run through and be done by seven thirty at the latest," she reiterated to the three just as she was heading out the studio door. She had just gone over with Sam, Brad and Gibby what needed to be done before she got back. Brad and Gibby were quite content on what needed to be ready for the rehearsal when the brunette returned. However, Sam had kept an irritate look on her face since they had left school earlier and to Carly's eyes, still upset.

"You shouldn't be ditching us like this Carls," Sam stated in a firm tone.

Carly sighed as she reached the glass and red trimmed door. "I'm not ditching you, I'm just going to hang with Freddie for a little bit and be right back."

Sam snorted out with a hint of anger in her voice, "He throws a fit and make you feel guilty so you drop everything to please the little nub. Maybe I should walk, maybe that would get your attention and snap you out of the way you've been acting since L.A."

Carly felt her chest tighten and flush of heat form on her chest and neck. She snapped around and shouted, "You already did that once and nearly ended the show!"

Sam leaned back and blinked. She tried to speak, but Carly turned around and walked out the door. Brad and Gibby looked to each other as they wondered what just happened as Sam stood watching the door trying to figure out the same thing.

Freddie was leaning against the wall beside his door to his apartment with his phone against his ear. He chuckled from the comment on the other end and replied, "Are they going to get that fixed anytime soon or are you going to get a new number?"

The Shay door opened and Freddie cleared his throat when he saw the brunette exit the apartment. Their eyes met momentarily then Freddie continued, "I have to go, Carly's here and we're about to head out to my fencing lesson. I'll talk to you… yeah, I will, bye."

He pulled the phone from his ear and pressed the end call button. He slid the phone in his pocket and gave the brunette a bashful smile. "Hey."

Carly cleared her throat and replied, "Hi." It wasn't hard for her to guess who was on the other end.

The brown eye boy studied her for a moment and a look of concern formed on his face. "Are you alright?"

"What?" Carly asked in a higher than normal pitched voice.

Freddie pointed to around her neck and stated, "You're kind of flush around the neck and cheeks."

She reached up and palmed her neck. "Oh, just… it's nothing. You ready?"

Freddie resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her just brushing off his concern for her. _Baby steps, baby steps. I can't expect her to get it right overnight._ He leaned down to his right and picked up his sports duffle bag and gave her a muted smile. "I have everything, so we can head out."

As they headed towards the main elevator, she asked as she motioned with a hand to the pocket he slipped his phone, "So, you were finally able to get with Cat?"

Freddie glanced at her for a moment with a guarded look, but decided to be truthful, "Yes, I tried your suggestion and it worked. She's been getting their calls for the last few days and scrambling to call an ambulance for everyone she gets. It's kind of scary for her, but they said they're working on fixing the problem. Thanks, by the way for the suggestion."

Carly forced a smile and nodded her head. "You're welcome." _I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I am not jealous._

Fencing Studio

Seattle, WA

Carly sat on the bench as she watched Freddie as he was lightly dueling with one of the younger students trying to polish back up on the basics. The warm-ups for Freddie and the individual instruction to start him back into dueling shape had gone fine. They had started off easy to see if Freddie could progress and what pace he could go if it was possible. The smile that Freddie wore as he was starting brought a small smile to Carly's face as she realized that his happiness made her feel happy.

After about an hour and a half assessment, Freddie was paired up with the younger student. From her vantage point she kept an eye on his left knee and watched for any signs of trouble. She covered her mouth with a hand a few times to prevent from saying anything as she watched him struggle a few times with his footwork terrified that his knee would give out and he'd hurt himself. However, as his motions got finer, his footwork improved and the frequency and risk of his leg from slipping out from under him diminished.

She hadn't felt this kind of worry for him since the accident and the tinge of guilt pained her in the chest since she didn't usually feel this way the times he had been injured between the accident and now, maybe half-heartedly, but nothing like what she was feeling now.

The brown eye boy finished his match and bid farewell to his younger opponent. He then made his way towards his bag resting at Carly's side on the bench then proceeded to take off his gear and put away his sword.

As soon as he took off the face mask, she asked, "Are you okay?"

He looked up and gave a relieved smile and leaned forward to rub his knee for a moment. "It's a dull ache, but I'll put a heating pad on it when I get home. I actually feel pretty good. I'm glad I decided to start back. I'll probably feel it more in the morning, but it was fun." He picked his bag and threw it over his right shoulder then the pair started making their way towards the door.

As they walked just the first few feet towards the door, a slight limp was obvious to Carly's hypersensitive observation she had been keeping on him since they arrived. She was already on his left, so she looped her arm around his arm. He looked to her with a raised eyebrow as the memory of a redhead did a similar thing two weeks ago. She swallowed nervously then gave him a bashful look as she replied, "In case you need any support."

He gave a slight nod of his head and allowed her to lead him out the door. Once they were out on the sidewalk, she asked, "Do you want to swing by the Groovy Smoothie and pick something up before we go back home?"

He looked to her for a moment then relied, "Yeah, why not?"

Groovy Smoothie

The pair had settled at one of the triangle tables as Freddie decided that he wanted more than just a smoothie and decided to grab a hamburger and fries. Carly wasn't complaining nor was she in a hurry to leave him and make it back to the apartment for rehearsals.

"You were really good," she commented before taking a sip from her smoothie.

Freddie smirked as he looked down at the triangle table grabbing a French fry. After quickly eating it, he replied, "I was fighting a novice who was taking it easy on me. There isn't much bragging rights on beating a guy with a bad knee."

She didn't want to laugh at the statement, but he did intend it to be a lighthearted comment, so she allowed herself a smile. "If you say so, but are you going to keep doing it?"

He tilted his head back and forth as if mulling over the idea. "I think I will. We're going to see how the next two or three lessons go before I make a final decision."

"I hope it works out for you," she replied and offered him the best confident smile she could display.

They just stared at each other for a moment and he smiled warmly towards her. It was the first real, deep warmth that he had felt for her in the last two weeks and he felt for the first time that their friendship might get back on its feet. "Thanks, I really appreciate the sentiment."

She looked back down at the table suddenly feeling self conscious about is look towards her.

Since Carly had taken such an interest in his well being this afternoon, he decided to return the favor. After taking a bite out of his hamburger and swallowing the morsel, he asked, "Why were you upset before we left?"

"I wasn't upset," she replied bashfully and kept looking down at the table. She then took a sip of her smoothie in the hopes that he would let the matter drop.

The brown eye boy sighed loudly and shook his head. _One step forward and another one backwards._ "Wow… that's new even for us: outright lying to me. That's not a good way to put our friendship back together."

Carly felt her cheeks get warm and spread down her neck from the embarrassed of being called out by the Tech-Producer. "Sorry, it's just, Sam was upset that I was leaving and she's just so annoyed that she has to help out Brad and Gibby to get the show ready. I didn't want to talk about it and drag that into your afternoon."

Freddie nodded and replied, softly, "I understand and I can appreciate that, but don't lie to me about it. If you didn't want to talk about it, you should have said that and I would have respected your privacy on the matter."

She looked up to meet his eyes. They weren't as mad as she expected, if anything a little hurt. She could kick herself as in the effort to try to be a part of his afternoon and put him first she tried to violate what little trust he had left in her. She wasn't sure what she could say in response, but fortunately he continued, "Why are you surprised by Sam?"

"What?"

Freddie chucked for a moment and shook his head. "You two fought for days using Dave and Fleck as surrogates to fight your disagreement about how she _doesn't_ help on the production side and doesn't think what you do to get the show ready is important, but then you had a near death experience together and that was the end of the fight, you never actually dealt with the problem. You let her be her same lazy self in regards to the show and she's still not appreciative of your efforts for the last year and a half. You just brushed it under the rug just like you always do when you can't or won't face a problem, especially in regards to Sam. You put on a smile on your face and pretend it isn't there."

In a soft voice, she replied, "You mean like when I didn't give you an answer after the casts came off?"

Freddie nodded his head. "That would be a good example but for the fact your silence was an answer: it was no. You just didn't have the courage or the decency to tell me it to my face until you went after Adam and then when you started dating Steven. The message was loud and clear then."

She tilted her head down slightly as she looked to him with a dark look. "You're just being mean now."

Freddie shook his head and snorted out a little breath in disgust. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You say I'm just being mean then you don't actually have to address my points." Freddie watched for a few moments as the anger was replaced with uncertainty in the brunette's eyes as she wouldn't focus on anything in particular. "Fine, don't deal with it, because not dealing with your problems has worked out for us so well in the past."

She frowned and glared at the brown eye teenager. "You're the one that dumped me."

Freddie cracked a small smile as he replied, "And you're the one that let me waddle out without a fight. You didn't want to take no for an answer with Jake when he got back with is girlfriend and you went chasing after Adam when he walked out on Webicon. When that didn't work you let Sam go get him and wink, wink, nudge, nudge her tying him down with electrical cord so you could try to get him to give you another chance in front of everyone, but when I told you I thought you weren't in love with me, you couldn't utter four little words: 'Freddie, you are wrong'. I'm not going to sit here and feel guilty in trying to do right by you and if I knew then what I know now I'd still do the same thing, because I was right."

Carly looked down at the table and shook her head. Freddie noticed the slump in her shoulders before she asked in a quiet voice, "Why is every conversation we have now turn into a fight?"

Freddie took a deep breath then replied calmly, "Because we still have a lot of things to work out. If you want to do this friendship thing for real then we need to deal with these things when they come up, not bury them or we'll be right back where we started and I told you I'm not living like that anymore."

"Do you hate me?"

Freddie studied the soft brown eyes looking at him and saw the desperation in needing some sort of approval. "I don't hate you. I'm just still working out my anger about all the things that have gone wrong over the last four years."

Carly's mouth went faster than her brain as she asked, "Do you still love me?" She covered her mouth in an instant and blushed.

The comeback fencer blinked in response to the question, but replied a few moments later. "As a person yes, but if we are talking about romantically… I'm still mending a broken heart and that's all I'll say about that for the moment. Anymore on that topic is off limits for the time being."

Carly's breath hitched and she blinked as the unspoken word in his statement screamed in her head, 'Cat'. She felt the stinging in the back of her eyes and felt the tell-tale sign of tears, but she pushed them back. _I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I am not jealous._ "I never meant to break your heart."

In a tired voice, he replied, "From my side of the table, your meaning to on purpose or willful insensitivity most of the time is just a distinction without a difference, but on that matter, I don't hold any resentment towards you. What's happened has happened and we can't change the past."

Carly looked down for a moment and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand to prevent any tears from falling. His words stung, but he knew he wasn't using them to stab at her, but just telling him the truth as she wanted. She took a breath and looked up to meet his eyes once more and ask, "Thank you, but are you still resentful towards me in other matters?"

Freddie tilted his head to the side and replied, "I told you I'm still working on the anger. It's not going to go away overnight, but what matters is that we're here and we're working on it. I'm giving you the opportunity you wanted, but neither of us can guarantee a result."

"Fair enough, we still have a long road ahead of us?"

The brown eye teenager gave a slight nod and replied, "Still a long road ahead, but…"

She blinked in concern and slightly frowned. "But what?"

Freddie smiled and replied in a slightly jolly tone, "I'm glad you came with me this afternoon. I like someone that cares rooting for me on the sidelines."

Carly licked her lips and gave him a bright smile. _He was happy that she was there and knows she does care._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was just after seven-thirty when the brunette pair reached the hallway between their respective apartments. Carly suddenly felt self-conscious when they reached the hallway, so the brunette wrapped her arms around herself. She watched Freddie unlock the door to his apartment then turned to the brunette and gave her a half smile. "That was… a good afternoon for us."

She gave a nervous smile and nodded her head. "It was…"

Freddie cleared his throat then continued, "Well, I guess I need to let you go. Sam's probably mad that you're late."

Her mind screamed for her to say, '_Please never let me go_', but instead, the brunette let out a relieved laugh and turned her mind to his latter comment. "Yeah, but I'll give her some ham. That should calm her down."

Freddie snorted out a laugh. "Yeah it should. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Carly gave him a light pat on his right forearm and smiled as warmly as she knew how to the brown eye teenager. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He looked down at her hand and gently patted the top of it with his free hand. He looked up and returned her smile before giving a one last nod. "Tomorrow and the next day and the day after that," he replied with a jovial smile then let his hand slide off of hers and turned to head inside his apartment.

Carly couldn't help but smile as she looked at the door for a few moments. She thought that maybe they would be alright.

Freddie looked out his peephole to see the brunette standing there staring at the door with a smile on her face. After a few moments, he watched her turn and headed inside her apartment. The Tech-Producer let out a breath and shook his head. He whispered out, "Baby steps." He then headed to his room and letting the limp be more pronounced to relieve some of the pressure before he reached his room and the soothing relief of a heating pad.

Carly finally arrived at the studio and opened the glass door to see a very cold looking Sam with her arms crossed. The blonde was almost glaring at the brunette with a clenched jaw. "You're late," she whispered not trying to hide her irritation.

Carly blinked and gave a slight frown. In a somewhat defensive tone, Carly replied, "The lesson ran late and we stopped by the Groovy Smoothie. Freddie decided he wanted to stay to eat instead of just grabbing a smoothie."

Sam sighed loudly and responded, "Then you should have ditched him, we have stuff to get done."

Carly's brow furled and a corner of her mouth lifted up as she was shocked by the suggestion. She shook her head and replied in this time a definitively defensive tone, "No."

Sam tilted her head to the side slightly and asked in a surprise tone, "What you mean 'no'?"

"I mean no, I wasn't going to ditch him and I'm not going to argue about this with you right now," she replied with her impatient slipping into her tone. Sam was about to reply, but Carly turned her attention to Gibby and Brad standing off to the side. "Is everything ready for rehearsal?"

Brad hesitantly replied, "Yes it is."

Carly took a calming breath and replied, "Okay, thank you. Since it's already getting late, we can rehearse first thing tomorrow afternoon if that's alright. We should be fine and work out any bugs tomorrow and just before the show on Friday."

Gibby and Brad both gave nods. Gibby stated, "We'll be heading out. You two look like you need to talk." The sandy hair teenager and Gibby quickly slipped out through the door while waving their goodbyes. Carly politely gave them nods then looked to Sam.

As soon as they were out the door, Sam looked to Carly and stated impatiently, "I had to put up with them for two hours and Brad was the only thing that made it tolerable. Don't do that again."

The brunette tilted her head to the side. Carly snorted out dismissively then replied, "It wasn't that bad; you're just exaggerating."

"I can only take so much Gibby at one time," she replied with a hint of disgust in her voice.

Carly shook her head. "Oh stop it. You get along fine with Gibby. You got through two eighteen hour long road trips with him just fine."

The blonde frowned as she realized that the brunette was correct, but wasn't going to give that information away freely as she countered, "You should have been here anyway. I do iCarly with you, not them."

The pale brunette replied in a higher pitched voice than intended, "We still have to prepare the show and that takes time and they know what they're doing. You know that and you didn't have a problem when Cort was around and he started eating the raw meat props."

"Cort was different and you know it kiddo, but if you're so concern about the time and effort it takes, why are you running off with Freddie and blowing the afternoon?"

"Because I'm trying to get my friendship put back together! By some miracle, he gave me a second chance, but it's still in tatters," she snapped at the blonde.

Sam frowned and replied, allowing the irritation to slip into her voice, "You don't need the second chance. He's the one that needs to apologize for blowing us off and having you worry about him. Did you forget that he's the one that decided to stay so he could spend the night with Red while you were the one that was the zombie the whole way home? He wasn't worth the tears you cried all the way back from L.A. and he's not worth the time you want to give him now. He's the one that should apologize for being such a nub to you."

"Yes he is worth it, because I was the one doing wrong towards him for the last four years and even after all that I failed to do in our friendship, he's stuck by me."

Sam took a step forward and pointed at the brunette. "No you weren't and he isn't worth that much trouble. He's the tagalong; he's always been the tagalong since day one because he wants you to be his girlfriend and he shouldn't expect—"

"What? That I should treat him the same as you?"

"Exactly! Because I'm your best friend and he's the nub that threw the fit because you won't date him and to tried to get back at you by shacking up with Cat for the night. He's just mad that you won't be with him and he's finally been able to make you feel guilty about it."

"This isn't about him wanting to be with me! This is about us being friends again like I said."

"That's full of chizz and you know it. If you walked downstairs right now and told him you wanted to be his girlfriend, he couldn't drop this silly little front he's put up fast enough and say yes to you even if he still has Cat back in LA."

Carly crossed her arms and shook her head as she replied, "No it isn't. I asked him if he still loved me like that and he couldn't say yes. He's still putting his heart back together that I broke."

Sam snorted out a laugh. "Wow, talk about sweet talking a girl. He's got you eating out of his hands just like after the Taco Truck incident."

"No, he is not, I'm the one that started the relationship after the accident and he let me go because he didn't think I was really in love with him as he was with me. He was watching out for me and it was noble. He saving my life was just foreign bacon."

Sam snorted out then replied, "He being noble wasn't his idea; it was my idea."

Carly blinked and dropped her arms to the side. "What?"

Sam let out a breath then answered, "I told him about the foreign bacon. I told him that you weren't in love with him and him saving your life was foreign bacon."

"You broke us up?" the brunette asked quickly and wide-eyed at the blonde.

Sam shrugged a shoulder then replied calmly, "If you want to call it that, but I was right and that was the only thing he's seemed to realize in your entire situation together."

Carly took a step forward and shouted, "But I loved him!"

Sam tilted her head to the side slightly and gave her friend a sympathetic look as she replied, "You mean how you were _in love_ with Adam and he was going to be your future husband? Or how you were _in love_ with Steven and you were practicing changing your last name?"

It haunted the brunette how much Sam's words echoed Freddie's from two weeks ago and chilled her to her bones. The dread turned into exacerbation as she replied knowing deep down the blonde was right, "I know! I'm shallow! I get it! It's something I'm trying to work on."

Sam swallowed and was taken aback to the comment. It took her a few moments to form reply, "Ah… I wouldn't go that far Carls, just that you go overboard just a little at times."

"Overboard is an understatement," she replied with a slight shake of her head. She pulled some of her brunette locks behind her right ear then sighed trying to let go of the tension that had built up from their conversation. She looked back to meet her friend's eyes and stated in a calm voice, "Sam… I want Freddie to be my friend and it's hard enough to put our friendship back together again to something close to normalcy without you wanting to cause trouble, so I am asking you not to try to sabotage me. I don't want any comments or anything else from you in trying to undermine me in regards to Freddie."

"I am not going to be second best to him Carly," the blonde replied in a firm with a little hint of threat voice.

"I'm not asking you to be second best, just to share the title equally of best friend," the brunette replied calmly and not showing a hint of fear from Sam's tone.

Sam stared straight into Carly's eyes that would make anyone else flinch and she countered, "Mama doesn't like to share because I saw how it was last time with Missy."

Carly however wasn't just anyone else and didn't show a sign of intimidation as she replied in a firm voice, "Then mama needs to learn how to share."

Sam's brow furled as she was caught off guard of the brunette challenging her, but before she could reply, Carly continued, "Freddie's not Missy, I'm learning to grow up to not to make the same mistake twice of putting one above the other."

The blonde shook her head and snorted. "I'm not going to convince you of anything tonight after your escapade with Freddie this afternoon." She then walked past Carly towards the door. As soon as reached it, Sam looked over her shoulder and called out, "We'll talk about how you should really handle the nub later once you get over your silly induced guilt."

Carly turned around and looked to blonde with a blank expression, but with chilly eyes then replied, "No, we're not."

Sam found the need to clear her throat, but replied as nonchalantly as she could, "Whatever, later Carls." She then opened the red trimmed glass door and exited the studio.

Once Sam was out of sight, Carly looked down at the wood floor then palmed her forehead. _And you thought the redhead was the only one to worry about._ She looked up and thought out loud in response to her stray thought, "I am not jealous of Cat!"

**Author's Note: I hoped you enjoy. Review and spread the word about the story if you would be so inclined.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello my readers. I hope Thursday is treating you well. I have another installment for you. For those readers that watch both shows on a regular basis, you will notice a slight change in how things will play out in a certain episode in Victorious. Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

Over the course of the next week and a half, life had been going well for Freddie. He had started his part time job at the PearStore on Mondays (which Sam was even more annoyed about since she had to do a little more work for the show despite Brad and Gibby's assistance) and the pain in his knee lessoned during his fencing lesson on the following Wednesday. Freddie was surprised that Carly asked to join him again at his fencing practice, but didn't mind the company. She even asked questions about the sport this time and realized that some of it she was forcing interest or it was going over her head, but he appreciated the effort and let her know it. It was during that time she would flash that beautiful smile of hers that he had missed seeing.

However, everything was not marching towards a new happy equilibrium for the group. Freddie wasn't blind to the growing friction between the brunette and the blonde friends. Since his first fencing match, Carly and Sam would exchange short, but sour looks at school when Carly didn't think he was looking. Their responses to each other were short with only a hint of irritation from either of them.

Whatever was going on between the two teenage girls, it nearly came to a boil when Carly and he returned from his second fencing lesson. They had come back at around six thirty so that Carly could make it back to get in a real and extended rehearsal. Sam was pushing her passive aggressiveness at the brunette and she returned it in kind. Fortunately, Gibby and he had the same idea and separated the two to work on their half of the skit separately. It seemed to do the trick for the moment as Carly seemed to relax with Freddie and Gibby and Sam was paired off with Brad.

Tonight's iCarly, fortunately, went off without a problem as the two seemed to bury their mutual problem enough to put on a great show and not turn into a disaster like pervious shows when they were on the outs. After the show was a different matter as that friction was just as apparent to him as the trio sat at the Shay kitchen table after the iCarly broadcast and Gibby and Brad already leaving for the evening.

Freddie was sitting at one end and Sam at the other end of the table with Carly sitting on the side. They were sharing a light snack as the girls barely exchanged words. He was naturally curious as to what was the problem between them, but he was going to stay out of it. He usually couldn't help anyway from past experience and a part of him hoped that maybe they could actually deal with problem instead of pretending it wasn't there after a few days.

As Freddie watched the pair, his phone beeped indicating that the e-mail that he had been waiting for had arrived. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pear shaped phone. He opened his e-mail and smiled as he looked to the screen. As he skimmed the screen, he let out a small chuckle.

Carly spoke softly as she asked, "What's so funny?"

Freddie lifted his eyes off of his phone and looked at the brunette. He gave a crooked smile as he realized that they were watching him.

"Really Freddie, can you share the joke?"

Freddie debated for a moment whether he should or not, but decided what was the harm. "It's not a joke… just some pictures that Cat was finally able to send me from her costume design class. They're her dressed up in some of the costumes she made."

Carly forced a smile and pushed down the uneasiness that formed in her stomach. "Can we see?"

"There is Cat as Little Bow Peep," he explained as he held up his PearPhone for the brunette to see the pictures. He thumbed over onto the screen the next picture of Cat in a form fitting black bodysuit with a pink cape and big pink C on her chest. "That's one of her as SuperCat." He thumbed over again to show the next picture. "That's one of her dressed as the teacher Spencer shared the hot tub and there is one as Cat, International Spy," he finished with a smirk on his face and to Carly's ears a sense of pride in his voice.

The brunette replied hesitantly, "She looks cute in the Little Bow Peep outfit."

Freddie turned the phone back to look at the screen and thumb back to that picture. He smiled as he looked to the picture. "She sure does look cute."

He thumbed over to another set of pictures then commented as he saw the first picture, "Oh, here are some pictures of when she met Kesha."

Sam chuckled and shook her head. "She did not meet—"

Freddie held up the phone for Sam to see the picture. Sam grabbed his wrist to steady the phone and get a good look at the picture. "Oh my God, it is Kesha," Sam replied with a dumbfounded look on her face seeing the musician posing with Cat and the other Hollywood Arts students.

Freddie pulled back his arm after the blonde looked at a few more pictures. "Yes, that is Kesha. Tori won some contest to have her perform live at her house."

"Why weren't you invited?" Sam asked in a heavily sarcastic manner. "You seem to be all buddy, buddy with them now."

Freddie smirked and let out a humorous snort. He matched the blonde's eyes and replied calmly. "There wasn't enough lead time to get down there, but I'll be seeing them tomorrow."

Carly swallowed down the nervous lump in her throat. She whispered as nonchalantly as she could, but had to look at the table when speaking, "Oh? You're going to L.A. tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Freddie looked up from his phone and smile hesitantly as he realized that he spoke the last part out loud. He replied after a moment of studying the brunette's eyes, "I'm taking a flight down to L.A. later tonight or first thing in the morning, depending on the weather."

Carly opened her mouth to speak, but Sam was quicker with a snorting sound with a hint of disgust, "Anything special you'll be doing to Red? I mean with Red?"

The brown eye boy bit his tongue for a moment debating whether he wanted to waste the time with a verbal match with the blonde. He decided to let it slide and look to Carly. Her expression was one of curiosity as if she was asking the same question. He took a breath and replied calmly, "Yes, something special has come up. She wants me to go with her to her 'Prome'."

Sam raised an eyebrow and asked in a bewildered tone, "Her prome?"

"That's what they are calling their Prom. It's a last minute thing they are putting together since the school never had one… yet she got upset last time she wasn't asked to the last prom," Freddie answered with a raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "I don't understand it."

Carly swallowed nervously. "So you're going to be her prom date?"

Freddie tilted his head side to side for a moment. "Date, escort, kind of blurry exactly what I am, but I'm going to go with her."

"Oh…" Carly replied hesitantly while Sam rolled her eyes. Carly found a little self confidence to ask, even if she was afraid of the answer, "Were you going to tell us?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder. "After I got a confirmation that my flight was going to leave tonight, I would have told you. There are some whether delays, so I'll know later tonight if I need to be at the airport tonight or in the morning. No point in bringing it up if I'm not going to go."

Carly nodded to the explanation and accepted his word. She was grateful that he wasn't just going to leave without telling her. The idea of a prom did make her think of the next obvious question for her, so she asked, "Do you have a tux?"

The brown eye boy grinned then replied, "I picked something up. I think it looks good. I don't want to embarrass her."

Carly's mind went to imagining what he would look in a tux. The last time she remembered was when he was dressed up for the Birch wedding. In hindsight, she remembered how good he looked in it despite the color. She couldn't help taking a moment to imagine him in one that truly fit him. However, she was pulled back to reality quickly with Sam snorting out, "Even you couldn't embarrass her from what I've seen of her."

Freddie glared at the blonde and snapped, "You're just jealous."

"Of what? Her?"

In a cold tone, Freddie replied, "Of course, I mean, she's prettier than you, a better singer, a better actress and people actually like being around her, but you should be used to being second best especially having Melanie as a sister."

Sam leapt from her seat and looked as if she was about to jump the table to ring his neck, but Carly pointed to her and shouted, "Sit down!"

The blonde turned her head and glared at the brunette. "He just insulted me!"

Carly glared right back to meet the angry eyes as she countered, "You started it."

"Stop taking his side!"

"Stop trying to pick fights with him and I wouldn't have to!"

The two were outright glaring at one another at that point as Sam was looking down at Carly and the brunette with her head raised high matching the glare.

Freddie lost his annoyance and anger with the blonde and was replaced with a look of bewilderment looking at the girls. Sam's reaction was not surprising, but Carly's response did take him by surprise. "You know what? I'm going to go. You two obviously have something to work out and I know I'm never a help in your two fights."

Before either girl could respond, Freddie was already on his feet and walking past the table.

"Freddie?" Carly asked with a hint of hurt in her voice, but he continued towards the door even as she got up from her seat and followed, reaching the living room.

Freddie turned as he reached the apartment door then called out, "I'll call you before I leave and call you back when I get back from LA." He nodded his farewell and exited the apartment.

Carly blinked for a moment looking at the closed door. In a cold whisper, she spoke to Sam without turning around and looking at her, "I don't want him to go."

Sam had caught up with the brunette in the living room. The irritation that she had felt for her friend turned all towards Freddie even if he wasn't in the room. "That's what all your defending of him gets you: him running back to his little girlfriend in LA."

Carly snapped her head around and glared at her. "Why can't you stopping being mean for just a few seconds? I love you, but you are a nightmare to be around at times! Please! Just STOP!"

Sam took a step back and her eyes widened in shock. She swallowed done a lump forming in her throat and replied, "I'm sorry Carls."

The brunette snorted out in disgust, "When are you ever sorry about anything? You want me to believe you're sorry about anything then stop doing the same thing over and over again and then I'll believe your apology."

Sam's mouth hung open slightly before replying in a soft voice, "You don't believe me?"

Carly took a step forward. "You lie! You're proud that you're such a good liar!"

"I don't lie to you."

"Then mean your apology and stop being mean, especially to Freddie."

The blonde frowned and gave her friend a cold look as she whispered, "I have a better idea: snap out of the funk you've been in since we got back from LA."

"I'm not in a funk. I just realized some truths about life."

"That Freddie's more important to you than me? He's not, so choose Carls: him or me as your best friend."

Carly clenched her jaw tight for a moment and stared back at the blonde's blue eyes. In a cold whisper, she replied, "No."

"What do you mean, 'No'?"

The brunette slightly shook her head and replied in that same determined voice, "No."

"No?"

"That's what I said, no."

Sam let out a breath through her mouth in a surprisingly humorous manner, "You can't just say no."

"Yes I can and I'm saying it now, no. I am not going to chose between the two of you. You're my best friend and I want him to be my best friend for real this time. You and I were miserable when Dave and Fleck broke us up and I was the same way when we left Freddie in LA. If you truly love me like I love you, you wouldn't make me chose because I'm not pushing you out. I'm not replacing you."

Sam's frown returned and asked in a similar dismissive tone that reminded the brunette of when they had their fight about Dave and Fleck, "How do I know you're not lying to me? You did it with Missy."

"Missy was trying to push you out, I never did. The only thing I was guilty of was believing a friend in saying she was trying not to get in our way, but just become more the merrier. I should have learned then that friends can lie to me without a second thought."

Sam shook her head and looked to the floor for a moment. "I got to go Carly." She then started walking past the now perplexed looking Carly.

"But you were going to spend the night."

Sam reached the door, but unlike Freddie, she didn't look back. She turned the door knob and called out, "I changed my mind." She then exited the apartment leaving the brunette to feel almost as lonely as she did in Spencer's SUV on their way back to Seattle almost a month ago.

Carly let out a tired breath as her shoulders slumped then shook her head in a defeated gesture.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Freddie let out a breath as he looked at his reflection in the full length mirror of him in his tuxedo. It was approaching ten and he had just gotten word that his flight had been delayed again with some storm front between Washington and California. The way the predictions for the weather over the next two days, he would be lucky if he could get a flight at this rate to be able to get to L.A. by Saturday night. The ironic part was even if he did make it there would be a good chance it would be rained out anyway since the 'Prome' was being held outside.

He had to push those thoughts aside and focused on the matter at hand about how he looked in his tuxedo. He opted for a black necktie instead of a bowtie with the white shirt and black vest and he was quite pleased with the result. He was also pleased with choosing the long tuxedo jacket length that went further down to about his mid-thigh and that it actually felt and looked comfortable around the shoulders. He hated the jacket of the last tux he wore at the Birch wedding and felt he looked ridicules with the shoulders.

He really wouldn't be this over concern with his appearance, but the brown eye boy really didn't want to embarrass the red velvet haired girl tomorrow night and the possibility was making him more nervous that he thought. He really wanted to make the night special for her and maybe himself. He had opted out of going to his junior prom because he really didn't see the point of going through the hassle of going alone or with someone he didn't want to accompany especially with whatever he had with Cat at the moment.

"You look very handsome," a soft voice called to him.

Freddie turned to see the brunette standing at his bedroom door and was caught off guard from her appearance. "Hey?"

"Hi," she whispered bashfully and brushed some of her hair behind her left ear.

She approached and invaded his personal space to adjust his tie needlessly because it was already straight, but felt she needed to anyway. She thought that maybe she just needed to have an excuse to be that close to him and touch him.

"Thank you," he finally responded to her compliment.

She gave a slight nod of her head as she let her hands drop, but didn't and cleared her throat. "Don't mention it because it's true: you really do look handsome. You're going to embarrass the rest of the guys at their school with how good you look."

He chuckled. "You're just flattering me now."

She grinned in response then replied, "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"_Maybe_."

Freddie raised an eyebrow as he replied, "Maybeee."

Carly let out a small giggle. "Maybe."

Freddie cocked his head to the side and replied, "So maybe?"

She let the smile play on her face as she shook her head. "No, you are definitely handsome."

The brown eye boy ran his tongue across the inside of his bottom lip and shook his head as he grinned. "I'll thank you for that compliment too."

"You're welcome."

They stood there for a moment as neither seemed to know what to do next. Freddie finally figured to offer her a seat as he motioned her to the edge of his bed. She gave a slight bow of her head and the pair walked over to have a seat together. They remained peacefully silent for a few more moments before Freddie asked, "So… did you and Sam work out whatever problem you have?"

A frown formed on slightly pale teenager's face and she let out a breath. "No."

Freddie let out a tired breath. "I'm sorry."

Carly shook her head vigorously in response as she spoke, "It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about, it's just… it's just something Sam and I need to work out. We're both being stubborn, but I can't give her an inch and like you said, I can't brush this under the rug. You're—it's too important to just go along to get along with Sam in this case."

He gave her an agreeable nod. It wasn't lost on him that she originally said 'you're', but he wasn't going to comment on the matter, so he opted for a different approach. "You know I'll still help anyway I can," he tried his best to reassure her. They may have been going through their rough spot, but that didn't mean he wanted to see her hurt.

"Thanks, but I don't think there's anything you can do," she replied in a sad tone.

He gave an apprehensive nod. "Okay, but I'm here if you need me."

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a small, but heartfelt smile as she saw the sweet Freddie she had taken for granted for so many years. It pained her and brought her reassurance at the same time. For some unknown reason even to herself she leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth. She let her lips linger for more than a friendly peck before pulling back only slightly for their eyes to meet.

Freddie swallowed nervously and stared at those soft brown eyes. She hadn't looked at him like that for nearly a year and a half. The last time it wasn't real in her eyes and they had established it wasn't real. A month ago he would have wanted nothing more than for her to look at him that way and mean it, but it wasn't a month ago, it was now and he was planning to go to a prom with another girl that had come to mean a great deal to him. She was no Magical Malika that he had to put up with then glad was gone in a puff of smoke.

He cleared his throat louder than intended as the silence between them had became quiet noticeable. "Well, I need to change back into something normal. I just wanted to make sure I looked good and I need to see if they've scheduled a flight for me."

Carly's mouth opened to respond, but found she couldn't speak. She closed her mouth then gave him a nod as she tried to suppress a frown from forming on her face.

He noticed the instant change in her posture and her shoulders slouching for an instant. He asked with a hopeful smile. "I'll see you as soon as I get back?"

She gave a timid nod and a forced smile as she stood up. "Sure. Just make sure you take plenty of pictures to show us when you get back and say hi to everyone for me."

He gave a friendly nod and a timid smile as he got up as well to face her. "I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures and tell everyone you said hello."

"You do that…" she whispered, but couldn't seem to meet his eyes.

He didn't bother thinking, but just acted as he pressed his lips softly on her forehead. She looked up in surprise and he responded, "I'll be back before you know it. I won't be gone for long."

That little bit of reassurance was enough for her to give him a genuine smile for a brief few seconds and allow for her to head towards the bedroom door. She turned slightly as she reached the door and called out in a soft voice, "Night Freddie."

He gave a slight wave of his hand and replied, "Night Carly." Then she was gone.

* * *

><p>Carly opened up her apartment door and slipped inside quietly. She gave a cursory glance and saw that Spencer wasn't in the living room or the kitchen. The brunette rested her back and head against the door and closed her eyes fighting back the moister forming in her eyes. <em>I am not jealous. I am not jealous. I am… please don't go.<em>

Asphalt Café

Hollywood Arts High School

Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, Approaching 10 pm PDT

Cat was holding her plastic cup in both of her hands as she avoided Robbie's eyes. She had lost the friendly, content smile she had worn all night as she swayed to the music waiting for her companion, but the curly haired boy had spoiled her mood by him finally outright confronting her about not being his prom date. Robbie's arms were out and indicated his disbelief and annoyance. "If you didn't want to go with me, you could have just told me instead of lying and saying Freddie was coming."

"I'm not lying," the redhead pouted and gave him a sad expression with her eyes. "He said he wanted to come, but his flight kept getting delayed because of the weather. He said he'd be here if he could make it."

"Weather? There's not a cloud in the sky, besides he's not just going to drop everything he's doing and come down here. It's been month and he hasn't visited once."

Cat frowned and pushed back the need to let a few tears to form because it did hurt that he couldn't visit like they wanted to visit and were limited to texts, phone calls and video chats. It wasn't exactly cheap to fly round trip from Seattle to L.A., so that was one of the reasons he took the part time job at his local PearStore he had told her about two weeks ago so he wouldn't have to dig into his TechFoot savings intended for college to fly down.

A gentle, but firm voice called out behind Cat, "What is she lying about Robbie?"

The short curly haired teenager turned around to face the smirking Tech-Producer with his hands in his pockets. His mouth dropped open and tried to mouth out an answer, but the redhead ignored him as she shoved her cup in his hands and turned to literally leap into Freddie's arms while wrapping hers around the back of his neck. The brown eye teenager grinned and caught the excited red velvet haired teenager. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and he was happy to return the gesture.

She whispered in the sweetest voice, "Hi."

"Hi," he whispered just as kindly.

He sat her down on her feet then she turned to stand at his left and kept her hand on his shoulder and slipped the other one around to the small of his back. Freddie tilted his head slightly downward as he gave the ventriloquist a slightly cold look, "So Robbie, what was she lying about?"

The short curly haired teenager cleared his throat and replied in a higher pitch than normal tone, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Freddie returned with a mile, but not a particularly friendly one. "Okay… well I need to catch up some time with Cat and I'm guessing you need to get back to your date, so we'll catch up with you later?"

Robbie cleared his throat, but didn't appear too been that effective as he replied in a garbled voice, "Yeah… got to get back to my date… talk to you later." He turned and took the have drunk punch with him.

As soon as the teenager was lost in the crowd of students, Freddie looked to the redhead he was still holding. He grinned and whispered, "I made it."

She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and rubbed her noise against his nose. She was grinning and taking the moment to enjoy his presence that she hadn't felt in about a month. "I knew you'd make it."

He snorted out a laugh that tickled her noise and upper lip. "I'm glad one of us kept the faith, because I had my doubts a few times." He pulled away slightly to get a good look at her in her Prome dress with a pink skirt and silver top. He wore a big grin as he commented, "You look beautiful."

She blushed for a moment and smiled warmly. She whispered in reply, "Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself." She took another look at him seeing how good he looked in his tuxedo.

"So have I missed anything?"

The redhead sighed and replied in a sad tone, "Actually you have, they just got the lighting back on and we're waiting for the band. Jade interrupted the lighting with some scary film."

Freddie's brow furled and gave a slight frown. "Why would she do that?"

Cat sighed and shook her head slightly. "She's upset that her performance was canceled. She was supposed to put on some performance art tonight, but it was canceled so we could have our 'Prome' and now she's trying to get back at Tori by ruining it."

"So Tori got her performance cancel?"

Cat replied in a regretful voice, "Not intentionally… it was the only time we could have it like I told you, but we didn't know it meant canceling on Jade."

Freddie sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to go talk to Jade, if I can find her in this crowd." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then delved into the dancing group of students in what he thought would be a vain attempt in finding her.

He made it to the outskirts of the dancing students and almost literally ran into Tori. The brunette blinked and asked in a surprised voice, "Freddie?"

He looked Tori up and down for a moment before giving her a brief smile as he replied, "Hey Tori, you look pretty tonight."

She looked down at herself for a moment. She looked up to meet his eyes and replied curiously, "Ah, thanks."

"You're welcome. Have you seen Jade?"

Tori frowned and pointed towards the school. "I'm about to chase her down. She just canceled the band on us. She just went in the school—"

As soon as the words left Tori's mouth, Freddie headed to the nearest entrance of the school he assumed Jade used to enter.

The brunette blinked at his sudden movement away from her. She caught up with him surprisingly fast in heels and caught him softly by the elbow. "What are you going to do?"

The Tech-Producer tilted his head to the side and replied in a patient tone, "I'm going to go talk to her. Do you really think she's going to listen to one word you say?"

Tori opened her mouth to respond, but no sound was uttered. She quickly closed her mouth as she realized that he was correct. "Ok, you talk to her."

"Thanks," he replied with a nod then headed for the school.

* * *

><p>Freddie turned the corner of the student signed wall and saw Jade just in front of the Wahoo Punch drink machine drinking from a can he assumed that she just purchased from the machine.<p>

"Jade?" he called out softly.

The raven haired girl with blue and green streaks tied in her hair turned and faced the brown eye boy. "Freddie?"

He stopped with he was about two feet or so in front of her. "Hey."

One corner of her mouth lifted up as she asked in an amused tone, "So you really did make it?"

He gave a slight nod and a half-hearted, bashful smile as he answered, "Yep… I'm told that you're 'trying to ruin' the Prome?"

The raven haired teenager frowned and asked in a cold voice, "So you talked to Tori? Did she send you?"

"No, I talked to Cat and I want to talk to you, because… I'm sorry that you're performance was canceled, but you don't have the right to take it out on the rest of us."

Her frown deepened and she outright glared at him. "Tori knew I was going to have my performance tonight, but once she got that silly idea for a prom in her head and she didn't care one bit that they canceled on me and no one thought it was wrong—"

He shouted back, "I think it's wrong! I know how it feels for someone to just screw with you just to screw with you and no one giving a damn about how it makes you feel!"

Jade's head pulled back slightly and took a sharp intake of breath from the shock of his reaction. She held on to her can drink tighter with both hands in some weird way to comfort herself.

He continued before she could form any kind of response, "I can tell you four years worth of stories tomorrow about Sam just screwing with me because she could and people laughing it off like it's no big deal, but for right now, I am asking to please stop. I just want to enjoy a few hours with Cat at her 'Prome'. Please just stop and put off your anger for Tori for a few hours." His anger ebbed away and turned to almost a plea, "Don't take it out on everyone else… don't take it out on me… please?"

Jade blinked and stared at the brown eye teenager's eyes. They weren't really displaying any anger towards her, but more… sympathy she realized and directed at her. Before she could reply, they both heard loud music coming from behind Freddie. He turned to look with her at a grown man in a diaper (just a diaper) jamming to the music down the hallway with a little person holding a boom box on his shoulder right beside him.

She spared Freddie a glance before walking to the pair. Freddie watched as the raven haired teenager took one last swig of her Wahoo Punch and dropping in a trashcan before she talked to the guy in the diaper and his sidekick. They looked kind of bummed to Freddie's eyes as she spoke to them, but they turned and headed out of the school without much argument.

Jade turned around and approached Freddie in a timid stride. Once she reached him, she let out a breath and let her shoulders slump. "Fine… I'm going to stop."

He gave her a small smile then pulled her into a hug. The pale teenager was caught off guard for a moment. He whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry that your performance was cancel."

Her mouth opened slightly and she hesitantly raised her hands and patted his back in return, not really sure what she was suppose to do at the moment. He pulled back a few moments later, but letting his hands rest at the small of her back. "There is something else…"

She glared at him and her mouth became a thin line. She gritted out as if it was painful for her to speak, "What else to you want from me tonight?"

"Could I have a dance with you?"

Jade blinked and tried to speak, but Freddie interrupted her with a smirk, "What? You're shocked that I would want to dance with such a pretty girl?"

She titled her head to the side as the compliment brought her out of her shock. The raven haired teenager shook her head and gave him her own smirk. "Charmer."

Freddie shrugged his shoulders and laughed softly. "I don't see Beck around and I don't see why his lost can't be my gain." He pulled away from her then offered his arm to her.

Jade rolled her eyes, but relented and looped her arm with his arm. As he led her towards the turn and out of the school, he commented, "I love your new hair color."

* * *

><p>Once they exited the school and reached the party going area, they released each other's arms. Cat was eagerly awaiting them and she swooped in to take Freddie's other arm and give him a bright smile. The now trio intended to keep going, but were stopped as Tori approached with an annoyed look on her face followed by André.<p>

The first thing out of the brunette's mouth was, "Are you going to stop?"

Jade glanced to Freddie then looked back to Tori. "Yes, but not for you and I still have a score to settle at a later date."

Tori narrowed her eyes on Jade, but accepted the answer for the time being. "Okay, but you canceled the band. What are we going to do about the music?"

Freddie blinked and shifted his eyes back and forth looking between the girls. He raised a hand and spoke up, "Ah, you're all singers… and you go to a performance high school… how hard is it to get a few people together to sing and play a few songs?"

Jade indicated towards Freddie with a tilt of her head and the biggest grin she could form on her face. "Wow Tori, what would you do without him here?"

Tori turned her look to Jade and glared the blue streaked hair teenager.

Jade returned with a small smile and glint in her eye relishing in her smugness towards the brunette.

After finding the students that usually played back up for André, Tori was standing on the second floor of the café and grinning as she looked at the PearPad after Trina reminded her that the Prome King and Queen needed to be announced. She thought for a moment as she looked at he results of the voting. The right thing was to announce the winner of the voting, but she thought there was a more appropriate thing to do in announcing two other people. "I know you've been waiting for this all night, so we're going to go ahead and announce Hollywood Arts first Prome King and Queen!" She spared a needless glance at the PearPad then announced, "Your first Prome King is—Freddie Benson!"

The brown eye teenager standing with the rest of the Hollywood Arts students blinked at the news and was at a lost for words as he looked up at the grinning brunette. The other teenagers were not as shocked as the nearest ones to him started patting his back and shoulders apparently quite happy at the announcement. Even Jade standing on his left gave him a small smile and a pat on his shoulder. Another student quickly put on the king's crown on his head. He shook his head and laughed at the experience.

Tori continued with an amused tone in her voice, "And your Prome Queen is—Cat Valentine!"

Cat covered her mouth with both of her hands and looked wide eyed at the news. The next moment she realized that someone had put a tiara on her head and she started laughing up a storm. The newly minted Prome Queen and King exchanged amused looks then Freddie leaned for a kiss which Cat returned eagerly and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.

The surrounding students started cheering and hollering at their king and queen kissing.

Tori laughed at the sight for a few moments before calling out, "Now let's get this Prome rocking!"

* * *

><p>After exchanging their congratulations and sharing another kiss that caused the on lookers to cheer even more, Cat was up on the platform with Tori, André and the rest of the ad hoc band ready to perform.<p>

He smiled up at Cat ready to sing and she spared a small wave towards the brown eye boy. The next moment the band started going and the girls were singing the first lines to the song 'My Best Friend's Brother'. They didn't get too far into the sung as the first crack of thunder overhead was heard overhead and Freddie sighed in annoyance at the sound. The storm front that had been hindering him from reaching L.A. sooner had caught up with him.

The next moment the rain started softly coming down at first. He quickly took off his tuxedo jacket and held it over Jade's head. She looked over to him with a curious look for a moment then turned to one of appreciation.

* * *

><p>"Should we stop?" Cat asked in confusion as she looked up at the sky as the first drizzly starting dropping on their heads.<p>

Tori blinked as she decided what they should do with an uncertain look on her face as she heard another soft rumble in the sky and the rain started picking up. She looked to André which he was returning with a grin then he suggested, "Or should we keep going?"

The pair exchanged looks for a moment then the girls started singing their hearts out again and just like the rest of the students, Freddie started cheering his lungs out as the rain poured and danced along side Jade trying to shield her from the rain.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment. Review and pass the word please. See you on Tuesday for the next installment.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. Thanks for reading and reviewing. **

Chapter 16

Shay Apartment  
>Seattle, WA<p>

Carly Shay was sitting in her room at her desk looking at her computer monitor. Her eyes were scanning over the dozen or so pictures of Freddie she had up on the screen. Some of them were him quite happy, others not so much with Sam in them and making him looked miserable. She was still happy in those pictures and had ignored his suffering. Seeing the contrast stabbed at her heart as she looked on and thought back to those times.

There was one picture she had displayed that particularly stabbed at her heart: one that she found on Cat's Slap page. It was her standing beside Freddie on his left and placing a hand on his right shoulder as he held her close. So close in fact that her temple was resting on his cheek. What hurt the most was that they were both smiling in the picture and the smile Freddie was wearing was just as bright and joyful as the one he wore in pictures with just the two of them… when he was still in love with her.

Right now he was more than a thousand miles away being happy with a girl that treated him right the moment she met him while she was sitting here all alone.

She rested her elbows on the desk and covered her face with her hands. Her breath hitched once then the tears started flowing.

Vega Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

It was around eleven thirty pm as most of the Hollywood Arts gang and Freddie minus Robbie, Rex and of course Beck who was Canada were at the Vega Residence after a quick ride back to their respective homes for a dry change of clothes. They had decided to spend the rest of the young night at the Vega Residence after the Prome had been rained out and being soaking wet did not put anyone in the mood to go to some after party.

They had pushed both separated couch ends together to make it whole. Freddie and Cat were sitting together at the side towards the door, Jade in the general middle of the couch and Tori and André, minus his date at the other end. They had two large pizza boxes opened on the coffee table with several slices already missing as they were surprisingly have a good time just talking and catching up with some stories besides the ones shared between them over phone calls and video chats.

Jade shook her head with a smirk playing on her lips after Freddie spoke. "That has to be the lamest joke I have ever heard," she replied then took a sip from the straw of her soda.

"I know," Freddie laughed as he leaned back in the Vega's couch. Cat rested her head on his right shoulder and snuggled up to him, wrapping an arm across his abdomen. "But fortunately, I don't write the comedy."

Jade sat her drink on the coffee table and raised an eyebrow as she commented, "I don't understand why you're still part of the show after all the chizz they put you through?"

Freddie let out a breath and shook his head. He caught a worried glance from Cat out of the corner of his eye. He was about to reply when Tori spoke up, "I have to agree with Jade—" The brunette spared a glance at the raven haired girl giving her an annoyed look, "Yeah, I know, I'm just as shocked." She then looked back to Freddie and asked, "But why? Why stay with it if that is how they really treated you?"

The brown eye teenager gave a slight smile and subconsciously pulled Cat tighter to him. The redhead let a small smile play on her face as she rubbed her head against the side of his neck. "Well… I don't devote as much time as I use to in the show… it's just not as much of a priority in my life anymore so that makes a difference. Carly apologized to me when I got back last month and she's been trying sincerely in her attempt to be a better friend. We've reconciled for the most part, but it's not like it was before and can be a little tense at times, but it's not going to be the way it used to be between us."

Jade raised an eyebrow and asked with a hint of concern in her voice, "Has Sam been bothering you?"

Freddie sighed and tilted his head to the side. "She took a swing on my about three weeks ago, but I shoved her to the floor. She was pretty upset about it and was ready to jump me, but Carly told her to stop and she hasn't tried to hit me since."

Cat mumbled out as she held tight to Freddie, "She should have never let Sam start."

He glanced down at the redhead and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. It didn't occur to him that he was doing that in front of the others, but they didn't comment. He did catch from the corner of his eye Tori smirking at the sight and patting André's knee. He whispered to Cat, but the others could easily hear him, "Well the past is the past and there isn't anything we can do to change it. We just have to move forward and try to put the pieces back together."

Tori's voice was laced with concern as well as asked her question, "You really think that's the best idea? I mean even if only half of what happened was true I wouldn't want them in my life."

Freddie expression turned somber before answering, "I was ready to cut them both out of my life for good no matter how much it hurt, but Carly asked for one last chance… I'm giving it to her. She said if I gave her another chance and she screwed up one more time she knew she would lose me for good. She understands where she messed up and what it would cost her if she went back to her old behavior."

Jade snorted out dismissively, "You're far more forgiving than I would be."

Freddie raised an eyebrow and asked somewhat a shocked, "Who said anything about forgiveness?" He took a moment to meet each pair of eyes before continuing, "I tolerate Sam. She's not my friend and she's not sorry for one bit of what she did to me or what she hopes to try and get away with if Carly's not looking. But Carly? I accepted that she's sorry, but that's a lot of history for me to get through and make peace with in my life before I can really forgive her. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice and I'm just a dumbass, so it's been one day at a time for us and at times walking a tightrope, but each day's been getting better and from how it's gone so far, I'm thinking we'll be alright in the end."

André finally spoke up in a supportive tone as he raised his soda, "Well then good luck man. If there's a chance to salvage a friendship then I think you should try. I say you should go down swinging if it comes to it because being friends during the good times is easy, it's the bad times where you find out who your real friends are and if you get through it, you'll know if she's really your friend."

Tori nudged André with her shoulder into his shoulder. "Getting all philosophical on us André?"

He grinned at the brunette. "Yeah well… you have to be a little philosophical to be a song writer," he replied with a laugh.

Freddie gave him a thankful nod then replied, "I'll keep that in mind André, thanks."

André waved him off with his right hand. "Not a problem man."

Freddie kept a smile on his face as he turned his attention to the brunette and raven haired teenager. "So, what was the real deal about Steamboat Suzy and a car in Robbie's intestines?"

The brunette and the raven haired teenager turned their heads to meet each other's glares that formed in an instant at the mentioning of Steamboat Suzy.

Freddie laughed heartily then spoke out between laughs, "I have to hear this now."

Valentine Residence

Freddie glanced at the digital clock on Cat's desk to see that it was after one in the morning as he entered her room in his sleeping wear and holding up his rolled up blue sleeping bag. He stopped when he saw her standing at the side of her bed waiting for her with a bright smile on her face. He had to bite his lip at seeing her in another pair of very short grey athletic shorts and fitted pink T-shirt. He felt somewhat shameful for a moment as an ungentlemanly like thought or two crossed his mind about the grinning redhead standing in front of him.

He pushed those thoughts aside as he approached as he held up his rolled up sleeping bag. "So I'm going to find a spot on the floor—"

Cat interrupted him by walking up to him and gently taking the sleeping bag out of his hands and sitting it in her desk chair.

He blinked in surprise as she gave him a soft, but warm and genuine smile. She took his hand and led him to the side of the bed.

"I realize that last time was you comforting me and we don't need it to be a regular thing, that's why I brought the sleeping bag."

She placed a finger over her lips and gave him one of the biggest grins he had seen on her face. "You make a great teddy bear to sleep with and that's how I'd like to finish out this night… unless of course you think I'm going to take advantage of you on my prom night?"

Freddie grinned and replied playfully, "With how short those shorts are I wasn't entirely sure."

Cat covered her mouth with a hand and broke into a fit of giggles. With her other hand, she playfully slapped his chest and the brown eye boy join her briefly in the laughter.

Once they both calmed down from their laughter, their eyes met and they exchanged bashful looks. Freddie was the first to break the silence by whispering, "You really did look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you," she mouthed then she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and gave him a gentle kiss. He smiled into the kiss and eagerly returned it as he realized that he had missed her gentle affection. She pulled him down to sit with on the bed as they continued to trade light kisses. A few moments later, she softly pushed him to lay down with her on her bed.

He shifted to his side as to not put his full weight on her and pulled her side against him. She palmed his cheek as he deepened the kiss.

His right hand softly trailed up her leg and palmed at her left thigh. His hand had traveled up far enough that his right thumb was grazing her skin just under the hem of her very short athletic shorts. She mewed into their kisses at the sensation he was sending across her skin with his thumb. Her left hand had grasped his right shoulder and held on tight as they traded deeper and more passionate kisses. She started her cat and mouse game of retreating and advancing with her kisses as she had when they had awaken together, but this time it seemed to Freddie more eager, maybe as to make up for the physical separation.

She nipped at his bottom lip and enticed his mouth to open. Once it did, she let her tongue graze his bottom lip and eliciting a primal groan from him. She felt a pressure against her bare right thigh and out of instinct her right thigh slid up slightly. Freddie groaned into the next kiss as his eyes snapped open at the unexpected (but quite pleasurable) contact and he lifted his head to meet her eyes and a soft blush deepened on his cheeks. "I'm sorry… ah… I mean—"

He was interrupted with her soft giggling for a moment then she bit her bottom lip softly. She gave an understanding smile and released her hand from his shoulders brush her fingers through his hair and whispered, "It's okay Freddie. I understand… I'm…" She trailed off as she broke eye contact with him.

Freddie took the moment to realize how flush her own cheeks and neck were and the warmth he felt from her thigh he was still palming. He then noticed how she was trying to catch her breath with the rise and fall of her chest. He cleared his throat for a moment then replied, "I guess we should stop for the night and finally get some sleep?"

She snorted out a cute laugh. "I guess so, but I'm not letting my teddy bear go."

He kissed her nose then settled down completely beside her and moved his hand from her thigh to across her waist. "You don't have to, because I'm not going anywhere."

Cat pulled the sheet up to cover the pair as she snuggled into his embrace. After a few minutes of quiet contentment, she asked, "Are you still going to try and come down for the summer?"

He smiled then kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear, "Yes, I've been checking out a few internships, some workshops. There are a couple of ones I found are going to be held at Hollywood Arts. The summer in film one looks interesting and I'm thinking about applying to that one. Then we can…"

"What?"

"I guess figure out what we really are together?" he asked in a hopeful and somewhat fearful voice. "Our slow and steady."

She turned her head to meet his eyes. She placed her hand over his heart and whispered, "I think the most important thing is for you to put yourself back together maybe we'll have a real chance, but in the meantime, I'm here and I care about you."

He rested his forehead against her forehead then whispered, "I don't want to lead you on… I don't want to hurt you… I'll never forgive myself."

She lifted her head just slightly to capture his lips for an instant then replied with the kindest eyes to Freddie, "I will Fredward."

He couldn't understand that level of kindness, but he accepted it as she snuggled back into him and the pair allowed sleep to overtake them a few minutes later.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Freddie let out a tired breath as he reached his apartment door. It was approaching eight o'clock that Sunday evening and he wanted to relax and unwind before going to bed to start fresh the next week. He knew it wouldn't be that bad of a week since it was all just leading up to the school lock-in on Saturday to finish up their end of the year projects.

However, all that was pushed to the back of his mind as he thought back to earlier in the day. Once again he had a great time with the Hollywood Art students going out to the movies then just hanging out… after he and Cat finally got out of bed that morning. The redhead was determined to make up for the lost time in making out and being affectionate with him and he was in no position to complain. Under that innocent persona, there was one sexy (and sweet) little kitten. So much so that they came close to letting her 'take advantage' of the situation the morning after Prome, but neither of their upbringing encouraged going that far before marriage. Freddie could only imagine how much his mother would freak out if she thought he had gone that far. She'd get upset with him for saying 'Oh God', as if that alone counted as taking the Lord's name in vain, least long having premarital sex. She'd probably pop a blood vessel in her head.

Of course the day ended sooner then they wanted and he had to leave again and with it some sad goodbyes, but it wasn't as bad since he knew he'd be back in the next two or three weeks for whatever workshop Freddie picked to spend the summer in L.A. Also, before he left, he made it a point to remind the raven hair girl that she still owed him a dance and that just because the Prome rained out didn't get her off the hook… and Beck didn't need to know about it.

Freddie chuckled to himself as he remembered that little detail as he was just about to open his apartment door. He stopped when he heard a soft greeting from behind him. He turned and smiled to the brunette warmly as he greeted her, "Hey."

Carly wore a timid smile on her face as she replied in a nervous tone, "Hi."

"I _just_ got home. I was going to drop by in about twenty minutes after I dropped off my stuff. I said I'd see you as soon as I got back," he replied with a big grin on his face.

"Yes you did. See you in a few minutes?" she asked, hoping she kept some of the desperation out of her voice.

He nodded. "Absolutely. Let me drop my bags off and say hi to my mom and I'll be right over."

"Okay," she replied with an eager nod.

* * *

><p>Freddie was over in about fifteen minutes and the trio was around the kitchen table with Sam snacking, Carly sipping some of her special lemonade and Freddie leaning back in the chair and let out a tired breath. He grinned as he looked to the brunette. "So what did you do Saturday night?"<p>

She gave a half-hearted laugh as she looked down at the kitchen table. "Oh, you know: watched some TV, goofed off online, nothing much…" _Cried my eyes out knowing that I've lost you._

He gave a slight nod as she asked in return, "So how was the prom?"

Freddie laughed and covered a hand over his abdomen. "It rained out on us not twenty minutes after I got there, so it didn't last long, but they made me and Cat 'Prome' King and Queen."

Carly raised an eyebrow as she asked in astonishment, "They made you Prom King?"

Freddie grinned and nodded with his reply, "They sure did. It was a blast. They sang a song in the rain called, 'My Best Friend's Brother'. It was great, but I'm grateful they didn't get electrocuted. I think the song fits Sam."

"How?"

"Remember little crush?" Freddie chuckled. "I'll see if Tori can send you a copy of the song. You'll understand after you hear it."

Sam frowned and looked down at the table as she stuffed her mouth with the piece of meat.

"So if the prom rained out, what did you do for the rest of the night?"

"We hung out at Tori's for a few hours after drying out. We had some pizza, caught up on whatever we hadn't online or by phone, then Cat and I went back to her house by one I think."

Sam finished chewing her morsel of meat then stated with evident annoyance in her voice, "Gross, we don't want to here what you did with Cat."

"I'm not going to tell you anything anyway. A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell,"

Carly asked hesitantly, "So you did kiss her?" She knew it was a redundant question, but she thought that maybe it was just time to get it out in the open.

Freddie grinned. "It was the prom, make your own conclusions."

Carly took in a sharp breath as that answer led to her mind going in directions that just horrified her. She really didn't want to think that he and Cat went that _far_ during their prom night.

Carly stared into her glass as she asked, "So are you two together now?"

He looked to her, but she refused to look up to meet his eyes. He let out a sigh and figured that there wasn't any real point in avoiding the topic anymore. It wasn't as if any of them believed it was just a platonic relationship between him and Cat. "We're… still figuring that out. We're going to figure it all out during the summer when I'm in L.A."

Carly lifted her head immediately to look at him. "This summer? You're what?" She heard right the first time and it was a punch in her gut.

The brown eye teenager sighed before answering in a tired voice, "I'm going to take a workshop down in L.A. Spend a couple weeks down there for the summer."

"When did you decide on that?" the brunette asked in a tone that let her shock appear evident for him and Sam.

Freddie rocked his head back and forth. "I've been debating it for the last couple of weeks, but—"

"Since you got back? You've been planning behind our backs to ditch us for the summer this entire time?"

Freddie frowned and narrowed his gaze on the brunette. "Behind your back? I don't have to check with you or get your approval of my plans."

Carly responded in a more defensive tone than she wanted, "You're doing this to be with Cat?"

His brow furled and his jaw locked for a moment as he gave her a challenging stare. "What? What's wrong with me wanting to spend the summer with Cat?"

Her mouth went dry and she felt her chest contract a little. "Ah… nothing it's just… I'll miss you, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. It just seems like it's coming out of the blue for me. You haven't hinted that you going."

Freddie's annoyance deflated immediate and he sighed then looked down at the table for a moment. He looked up to meet the brunette's eyes. "Why not make it a trip for the three of us? We're iCarly; why not use that name to get us a sweet deal at the workshop. It will great: spend the summer in L.A., get to learn tons of stuff that can help with the webshow and hang out we some great people and broadcast from somewhere different."

Sam snorted out dismissively, "You're still really one of us iCarlys?"

He turned his attention to irritated blonde. "Maybe junior partner now, which come to think of it isn't any different than it use to be except I finally do the work of a junior member, but I'm still a part of this show and the fans still consider me a full member."

"You're a junior member by choice," Sam snapped as she pointed her finger at him.

Freddie leaned forward and put his weight on the table. "You don't even like me being that as you pointed out to me about two weeks ago. You don't think you need me, but let's not get off on some tangent. We can use our name recognition to get a great deal and hang out during the _summer_ in L.A. We can have a great time and plenty of fun people to share it."

Sam raised an eyebrow and replied in a sarcastic manner, "You mean you'll have friends in L.A."

"They've been friendly with both of you and don't have any real problems with either of you… well except for Jade doesn't care much for Sam."

Carly slightly frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

Freddie pointed to the blonde. "Because she used to use me as a punching bag and Cat's not much of a fan her either in all honesty."

"I don't care much for Red either," Sam snipped back angrily.

Freddie snorted out with a grin. "You have to work on your jealousy of her. I know you can't act or sing as well as her, but that isn't her fault. You should just practice more."

Sam gritted out through her teeth, "Watch it Benson."

Freddie smirked and his eyes took on a smug look. "Truth hurts doesn't it Puckett?"

Carly raised her hands. "Please, stop the both of you."

Freddie raised his hands. "Fine," he replied in a bored tone. "Anyway, I'm going to L.A. for a few weeks whatever either of you decide, but remember: we shouldn't have any problem staying down there and having a great time. It's just something you two should think about."

Carly nodded her head then replied in an apprehensive voice, "I'll talk to Spencer about it, drop my dad an email. I think you're right. We could have a great time."

Freddie smiled and nodded in agreement. "That's great. Honestly, I'd miss you too during the summer."

The web-hostess cracked a smile at hearing those words even if she still felt uneasy about him going down and spending so many weeks with Cat.

He glanced at his watch and realized the time. "Oh, it's getting kind of late and I need to get some things done before I get to bed."

"Oh? Okay, yeah… you just got in and everything and being gone all weekend," Carly readily accepted the sudden need to leave.

Freddie got up and headed for the door. Carly quickly got up from her seat to follow the brown eye teenager. She didn't notice that Sam got up from her seat as well to follow the pair to at least the living room.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled to Carly. "I'll see you tomorrow and I'll show you all the pictures you wanted me to take. Goodnight," he called out as he exited the apartment.

Sam looked timidly towards Carly, but the brunette looked towards the door and ignored her friend. In a quiet tone, Sam asked, "You don't really want him to go to L.A. this summer do you?"

Carly looked down at the floor, but she wouldn't answer the blonde.

Ridgeway High School  
>Saturday, Late June 2011<p>

Freddie was typing away at his keyboard as he was setting up his experiment for his mood reader app for Pear Products in the large classroom that led to the school's quad. He was trying to push away the annoyance he felt for the blonde haired she demon. Over the last few days and earlier today, she had bugged him in a way he couldn't understand: she was being nice to him. Cat had told him that was a positive sign that she was at least trying like Carly had changed her behavior towards him. He wished that was the case, but it was more incline to agree with Jade's opinion: _The girl is up to something._

"Hey," Carly called out pulling his attention away from the laptop. She had stepped way from her experiment on/with Spencer to check up on the Tech-Producer.

Freddie glanced up from his computer to look at the brunette. "Hey," he replied casually as that was the best he could do at the moment balancing that fact he was happy to see her with worrying what Sam was up to at the moment.

She gave a half hearted smile as she was hoping that he would be a little happier to see her, but she pushed that away for the moment to ask, "So how's your and Brad's project going?"

He let out a tired breath, but returned with a real smile. "We are about ready for our first trial. Sam's volunteered to be our first candidate. I'm not sure where she and Brad are at the moment. They're probably grabbing some of the free food before we get started."

Carly giggled out, "So she's really going to go through with it?"

Freddie joined with a chuckle, "Yeah, she is… speaking of Sam, what's up with her?"

Carly's brow furled as she asked in return, "What do you mean?"

"She's acting nice to me, all day and the last few ones," he replied in a flippant tone.

Carly shrugged a shoulder. "Maybe she finally realized that she just can't keep acting that way."

Freddie snorted out then chuckled darkly, "Yeah and maybe Hell froze over too."

"Freddie?" she replied with a tilt of her head.

The brown eye teenager grinned. "What? Don't expect me to suddenly believe she's acting nice out of the goodness of her heart. She's probably up to something,"

"You'd really think she'd start something now? We have just another week of school left then we're going to L.A."

He shook his head. "She's Sam. She's a liar and a schemer and let's not forget: she _hates_ me."

"Aren't you exaggerating just a lit—" She stopped when she saw the look on his face with the deep frown. She looked away and towards the floor. "Never mind… I think I'll let you get back to work. I need to get back to Spencer and Gibby."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little for a break?"

A small smile formed on her face. "Yeah, I'll see you in a little while." She then turned and headed out of the classroom feeling good about tonight.

* * *

><p>Freddie began his instructions, "Okay Sam, just look directly into the camera. Don't worry, there isn't any flash or anything to blind you."<p>

Sam nodded her understanding then gave an even expression as the PearPad scanned her face. Freddie looked at the monitor as it processed and analyzed her facial expression. He blinked when the screen displayed the results. He looked up over the top of the laptop towards the blonde then back to the screen.

"So?" she asked with a hint of impatience in her voice.

He looked up from the screen again to meet her eyes. He replied casually, "I'm having a glitch. I'll be right back." He then picked up the laptop and left the room without another word to Sam or Brad.

* * *

><p>Freddie blinked as he watched the glass box fill with some kind of mustard colored glass and Spencer making funny faces. He shook his head and approached the brunette at the control box. "Carly?"<p>

She turned her attention away from the box and gave him a curious look. "Hey, taking your break early?"

"Not exactly, I have to show you something," he replied as he opened his laptop. He motioned his head over so they could speak with a little more privacy. The pair walked away from Gibby and some of the other students working on their various projects.

"Your mood app reader?" she asked with a raised eyebrow at looking at the laptop screen.

"No, I need to show you the result of my first trial run with using Sam. It says she in love or she just really likes someone. It's not an _exact_ science."

Carly lowered her head slightly and asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice, "So Sam's in love?"

Freddie smirked as he replied, "Yeah… so who do you think is the poor guy?"

Carly gave a slight frown and narrowed her look to the brown eye teenager. "That's not funny."

"Fine," he chuckled out. "So really, who could it be?"

"Who is the one guy she's been nice to recently?"

"Other than me?"

Carly let out a chuckle, "Yes, other than you. I think it's obvious: Brad."

Freddie shook his head. "That poor guy, he doesn't deserve that."

Carly tilted her head to the side and frowned.

Freddie raised a hand while still holding the laptop with the other. "Fine, no more jokes."

The brunette looked to Gibby and asked, "Gibby, could you go on to the next thing on our checklist? I need to go talk to Sam."

The smiling teenager looked to her and replied readily, "No problem. I got this."

She then looked to the brown eye teenager. "I'm going to go talk with her."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later Freddie returned to his classroom and he and Brad started on some other volunteers with Sam gone to somewhere unknown in the school. He was just into his forth volunteer when Carly entered the room again.<p>

"I need to talk to you right now." She didn't even wait for his reply as she gently took him by the elbow and led him out of the room.

Freddie called out over his shoulder. "Brad, take over. I'll be right back."

Once the pair was outside of the classroom and down the hallway a little for some privacy, he looked to her with a bemused look on his face and asked, "So let me guess, she wouldn't admit anything?"

Carly brushed some hair away from the side of her face. "No, she just said she was in love with ham."

Freddie looked up to nowhere in particular at the ceiling and replied in muted surprise, "Well… come to think about it, that could be a reasonable explanation. She probably sleeps with that stuffed pig, Mister Porkles or whatever his name is from her meet club."

"Oh will you quit it. She's not in love with ham and she just shouldn't deny liking him, especially since it's Brad. You know Sam doesn't like many guys, it's the first time Sam's liked a guy that's not disgusting, or heavily tattooed, or on parole."

Freddie cocked his head to the side and gave her a perplex look. "Where are you getting that from? I can't think of one guy she's liked that fits any of those descriptions." Freddie held up his hand and counted off with his fingers, "Jonah, Shane, Pete, _Spencer_. Are there other guys she's liked that I never knew about?"

Carly sighed and palmed her forehead for a moment. "Okay, I'm exaggerating, but she just can't seem to stay with a good guy and I think Brad's a good guy. I don't want her to blow it before she even gives it a chance."

Freddie raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Exaggerating just a little, but if Sam won't even admit that she likes him, how are we gonna get 'em to—"

Carly whispered enthusiastically, "You've seen the Animal Channel!" She leaned closer and whispered even softer, "The...the horses."

Freddie shook his head trying to suppress a smile.

Carly replied with an embarrassed tone, "When they want two horses to...y'know..." She emphasized with air quotes, "date..." She then motioned with her hand in a downward gesture. "They put them in the same barn together, and then they, like...turn the barn lights down..."

Freddie grinned amused and let out a small chuckle at this point at seeing how hard it was for Carly to talk about the subject.

Carly replied with a hint of irritation in her voice, "Oh, you know what I'm talking about—" Carly grabbed Freddie by the shoulders and playfully shook him. "Why are you making me say it?

Freddie laughed as he playfully swatted her hands away. He took a calming breath and motioned with his hands together as he spoke, "So, we get Sam and Brad-take 'em to a barn?"

"Stop it! This is important!" she replied with a weird mix of annoyance and cheer.

"Okay, then you just have to get them alone and maybe force the issue. Brad's already in the classroom and I bet you can drag Sam back. It shouldn't be that hard to get everyone else to leave for a few minutes. Come on, I'll help you figure something out."

* * *

><p>Carly sighed as about fifteen minutes after clearing the classroom for Sam and Brad to get some alone time, she approached the brown eye teenager eating a quick snack at one of the set up tables in the hallways. She took a seat across for him then shook her head in annoyance.<p>

Freddie suppressed a smirk as he asked, "So let me guess, the idea blew up in our faces?"

Carly made a funny face from his gloating. "You don't have to sound so happy about it," she replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice and a tilt of her head.

Freddie leaned forward and smiled sympathetically rather than the gloating one of just seconds ago. "I'm not trying to be happy or bring you down, but Sam is stubborn. Why are you surprise?"

The web-hostess sighed down hearted, "I just wish she wouldn't be so stubborn at times. I just want her to be happy."

"You always want her to be happy… even at the expense of others."

She gave him a sour frown.

Freddie shook his head. "This isn't about us, but it is the truth," Freddie continued in a soft spoken manner. "Let me talk to her. If her friend and her enemy are telling her the same thing, she might actually listen."

She gave him a relieved expression. "Thank you," she mouthed with a thankful expression.

Freddie gave a brief smile and nodded his head.

* * *

><p>Freddie stepped out the door from the classroom and out to the quad with a bored look on his face. He rested his back against the wall for a moment and called out lazily, "So wallowing in self pity?"<p>

Sam snorted out as she caught site of the teenager. "Go away."

Freddie shook his head and pushed off the wall to approach the sitting blonde. "No, I'm not just going to go away."

She got up from her seat off the steps and approached the Tech-Producer. She stopped about a foot or so away from him. "I said go away or I'll give you a double fist pounding."

Freddie laughed out in disgust. "That's your response: I try to help you and you threaten to hit me." He took a step forward and glared at the blonde. "You can try and I'll have the excuse to take out four years worth of beatings out on you _or_ maybe you can actually let me help you like I did with Missy."

Sam clenched her mouth shut for a moment as the look in his eyes suggested he just might carry out his threat. She took a breath then asked, "Why do you want to help me?"

Freddie snorted out and shook his head. "For some stupid reason, I still care about you and you kind of look all… down. Brad seems like a nice guy and you seem to get along with him just fine."

"I'm not in love with Brad," she whispered out in disgust.

"I didn't say you were in love with him, like maybe, but not love. Love's hard enough."

Sam took a breath and looked to the pavement for a moment. She looked to him and gave him a curious look. "Are you in love with Cat?"

Freddie blew out a breath as he debated whether to tell her the truth. It was an out of the blue question. He'd probably regret it later, but maybe he could help her with a little truth. "No and she knows that, but we care about each other. We're taking our first steps to something." Freddie sighed then tilted his head to the side. "Those first few steps can be scary, but you can either wallow in your misery or can take your chance, because you never know unless you—"

Sam grabbed a hold of his shoulders and pulled him close to plant her lips on him. His eyes shot opened from the contact of Sam's rough kiss. She let go of him a few seconds later and Sam swallowed nervously then whispered out with a crooked smile, "Sorry."

Freddie blinked… then he blinked again as he looked at the blonde. He was finally able to focus on the shorter girl as the gears in his head started back up and process what just happened. Sam had been acting nice to him for the last two days. Sam and he were alone away from everyone. Sam had just kissed him. Then two other facts came to the forefront of his mind: Sam hated him and Sam knew that he was more or less with Cat. All those pieces fell into place to reveal the picture: _Set Up_.

He gritted his teeth and gave her a dark look before shouting, "What the hell Sam?"

The blonde was caught off guard by his reaction and took a step back.

Freddie immediately started scanning around to see if anyone was around hiding with a camera. He didn't see anyone around, but he wasn't going to stay any longer so she could set him up any further. He shook his head and turned around to head for the door ignoring Sam's voice calling him to wait. He opened the door to enter the classroom, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw the brunette looking out the window then to him in complete shock. She actually looked paler than normal.

Freddie blinked in horror as he looked to the brunette that was returning with a shocked look on her face. He looked towards the door then back to Carly as he realized that Sam wasn't alone in her set up. He swallowed the rage that wanted to come up and quenched it into a cold fury.

Carly swallowed in outright fear at seeing the look in his eyes. _If looks could kill…_ "Freddie? I…" She felt fear looking into his eyes and caused her to stutter, "I-I… didn't know, Freddie, I didn't know she was going to do that. I thought she just didn't want to admit she liked Brad."

He leaned forward and looked straight into his eyes with a harsh glare and whispered in the coldest voice she had ever heard from him, "Bullshit! I gave you your chance and this is what you do? Fool me into letting you back into my life so you could plunge the knife deeper? I love you and this is what you do to me! Try to sabotage my relationship with Cat!"

Freddie took a breath and continued as he let out his rage into his words, "You didn't know my ass! This is nothing but a setup from the start by the two of you to get Cat to break up with me, lose my _real_ friends in L.A. and get me back on your damn leash because I wouldn't have anyone left. You probably just recorded the whole damn thing with your PearPhone and plan to email it to Cat anonymously showing that I'm cheating on her while I'm Seattle… like Steven cheated on you when he was in L.A. Well to Hell with Sam and to Hell with you, because I'm done with all this bullshit!" He pulled back then walked past her on his way to only God knew where, because all he knew was that he needed to get as far away from her as possible.

Carly's mouth would move, but no sound would come out. Freddie was moving so fast that he was almost across the classroom and at the door.

"I swear on my mother's grave I didn't know!" a horse shout came from behind him.

Freddie stopped in his stride at hearing those words and the sheer heartbreak in speaking them. He turned slightly to look over his shoulder to see the teenager standing there with an utterly defeated look on her face. Her breath hitched and she blinked with tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her breath was becoming heavy as she looked at his cold face. She let tears flow freely and it struck a nerve with him long enough not to just face forward and keep walking. In a hollowed tone, he asked, "What did you say?"

Her mouth slightly opened and closed for a moment before she could reply in an unsteady and breaking voice, "I _swear_ on my mother's grave I didn't know. I thought she liked Brad, I really did. I didn't know she was going to do that—why does everything keep getting in our way? Why can't we just… I just… I just want—"

She placed a hand on her chest just under her neck and started loudly wheezing then silence.

He turned completely around to face her and his disgusted look turned into one of confusion as he asked, "Carly?"

She tried to take in another breath, but she choked and looked to him with fear through her teary eyes. The next moment her knees went out from under her, but Freddie was there in an instant to catch her and was able to fall with her to a gentle sitting position.

She looked up to his fearful face and tried to breath and speak at the same time, but croaked out the word, "I—"

He held onto her tight and shouted, "Carly? Carly?"

**Author's Note: I personally hate cliffhangers like this, but that's just how the chapter flowed. Don't worry; the next update will be on Thursday. Let me know what you think in the meantime. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: Next installment for you. Sorry for the cliffhanger on Tuesday, but I hope you enjoy. Thanks to all those that read and review.**

Chapter 18

Carly was approaching her apartment door from around the corner as she absently looked into her purse to dig for her keys. She stopped at her door still searching for her keys when her half drunken plastic water bottle slipped from her fingers and dropped to the floor.

She reached down to pick it up, but the opposite door suddenly opened up and shorter teenage boy scrambled out to pick up the bottle for her. He held up the bottle to her with an eager smile on his face. She hesitantly took the bottle from him then Freddie waved eagerly at her.

She tilted her head to the side and sighed, "I thought we talked about this. We can be buds, but you gotta get over this crush—" She clamped her mouth shut as she realized that she had spoke those words before.

The young Freddie smiled and eagerly replied, "I am over it! Seriously! I'm in love with you, you just want to be friends, and I'm totally cool living with that constant pain!"

She swallowed nervously as she stared at those soft brown eyes… not the ones that ones she remembered from somewhere else. "Oh god," she whispered to herself as she realized where, but more importantly _when_ she was at the moment. She looked past him, but instead of the Benson apartment, it was a classroom at Ridgeway with her looking out of a window. The door opened and the Freddie she knew stopped in his tracks to look at her other self. He shouted at her other self about betraying him and that he didn't want anything more to do with her. Both versions of Carly felt a pain in their respective chests hearing those words and seeing the fury in his eyes.

The younger Freddie frowned and looked to the floor apparently unaware of what was happening behind him. Carly leaned forward and pulled the shorter teenager into a tight hug, just as tight as she clamped her eyes shut.

Freddie was caught off guard for a moment, but then eagerly returned the hug.

She swallowed and let the tears leak from the corner of her eyes. She whispered her plea to the thirteen year old Freddie. "Please Freddie, don't give up on me. Please, please—"

* * *

><p>Carly's mouth was dry and her breath seemed shallow, but she was able to whisper, "—don't give up on me Freddie."<p>

She heard the faintest of whispers reply, "I'm not going to give up on you Carly, I'm right here."

A wave of calmness went through her at hearing those words. Carly softly blinked and opened her eyes to a barely lit room. "Where am I?" The next moment she saw a pair of soft brown eyes dominate her vision.

Freddie was sitting on her right and leaning over her with a warm smile on his face. He brushed away some of the hair from her forehead and whispered, "You're in the hospital. You had an asthma attack at school."

She smiled at seeing his face. There was a slight hint of fear etched on his face, but she was happy to see him nevertheless. It took everything she had but she pulled herself into a sitting position and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug (while avoiding pulling out the IV in the back of her left hand) and rested her chin on his right shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her steady in the sitting position. She relaxed into the strong, but soft and gentle grip. She remembered back when he could only hold her with one arm after the accident and it wasn't as strong, but it was no less gentle than the way he was holding her now. The brunette let the tears flow at the tenderness of just the way he was cradling her as they sat together on the hospital bed.

She took a couple of deep breaths before replying back in a barely audible whisper, "Asthma attack?"

"Yeah, but you're alright now. You're going to be fine."

She pulled away just enough to rest her forehead on his forehead. She took a laborious breath as she rested a hand on his shoulder and her left hand on the small of his back. She felt so tired that she knew she wasn't holding herself up at this point as his soft palms were resting on the small of her back through the opening of the back of the hospital gown and a hand between her shoulder blades. "I had this… this terrible nightmare."

He whispered in reply, "Whatever it was, you're safe now. We're all here… I'm here."

She barely nodded then spoke, "We were at a school and we were trying to get Sam to admit she liked Brad. You tried talking to her after I messed up with my horses plan, but Sam kissed you…" She took a short breath and spoke as if saying the words ached (which wasn't far from the truth), "Sam kissed you. You got so angry with me… you thought that Sam and I… I had set you up. That I was trying to break you and Cat up and betray you." She started blinking and more moisture from her eyes started leaking down her cheeks. She chocked out, "You didn't want anything to do with me anymore."

He whispered, "Shhh… It's okay." He lifted his head away from her forehead and kissed the front of one of her wet checks then her forehead as gently as possible then whispered, "It was just a nightmare, that's all it was, a nightmare. You a… some smoke escaped from the box you put Spencer inside. That's what triggered the attack and probably caused your… hallucination. You're going to be fine. They're just going to keep you here tonight for some observation."

She asked hesitantly, "Just a nightmare?"

He rested his forehead against hers just to help hold her head up, but also to comfort her. He nodded rubbing their foreheads together. "Just a nightmare, that's all it was, some weird twisted nightmare."

She swallowed down the anxiety she still felt. "I also dreamt… I was just coming home and dropped my water bottle. You must have been looking out the peep hole waiting for me to come home and you scrambled out to pick it up for me. Do you remember?"

"Yeah," he whispered as a smile played on his face remembering back to his scrawny thirteen year old self's behavior when it came to Carly.

"I told you that you needed get over your crush… what I wouldn't give to be back there and do it all over again." Her breath hitched and more tears began to flow. "I'm sorry Freddie. I'm so sorry. I should have treated you better. I should have—"

He reached up from her shoulder blades and brushed the back of her head. "Shh… don't do that to yourself. We both could have done a lot of things differently. You can't carry all that. We can't change the past, but we have right now to do the best we can."

She lifted her eyes to meet his soft brown ones. "It's too late," she whispered in despair.

He smiled warmly to her and the gesture warmed her for a moment. "No it's not. We're both still—"

She leaned her head forward just the inch or so and captured his lips in a chaste kiss. She didn't have the strength for anything more then that simple gesture, but Freddie leaned into it as well and made up for the lack of energy she could put into the kiss. He pulled her even closer and held her as he wished he properly could have held her a year and a half ago.

He pulled back a few moments later and blinked in surprise at her act and his own reaction to her kiss. It shocked him how easily it was to fall back in sync from when they were briefly together. He hesitantly whispered, "Carly?"

She blinked as more tears fell. "See… it's too late. I lost you."

He pulled her close and she rested her face in the crook of his neck as she let the tears fall. He gently rocked her and closed his own eyes as the pair hung on to one another.

He wasn't sure how long they were that way when a voice called out from the hospital room entrance, "Freddie?"

Freddie turned his head to see the apprehensive face on Brad standing at the door to the private hospital room. Sam was standing beside him looking just as apprehensive. The brown eye teenager hissed out with an annoyed tone, "What?"

"Spencer needs to talk to you… and Carly's dad. It's important."

He turned his head back to the brunette. In a soft voice, he spoke into her ear, "I'll be right back, I promise."

She nodded her head against his shoulder before he pulled back and helped her lie back down and get into a comfortable position on the pillow. He gave her another kiss on the forehead. "I promise, I'll be right back," he reassured her then pushed off the bed. She gave a brief smile and nodded before shutting her eyes.

Brad turned away to lead Freddie to the area where they could use cell phones, but Freddie took a moment to stop and look at Sam. He stared straight in to Sam's eyes and whispered in a cold tone, "Not even if you were the last woman on Earth."

She blinked and her mouth dropped open as he walked past her without a second thought.

Brad didn't say a word as he was too embarrassed about the situation. He decided the best thing was to continue on his way with Freddie following right behind him.

A few moments later they reached a waiting area with Spencer holding up the pear shaped phone to his ear.

"My dad wants to speak with you," the artist whispered out in an irritated voice to the Tech-Producer. Spencer frowned at him and gave him a cold look, but Freddie was too tired and at the end of his rope to care as he stared back just as coldly. The artist handed him the PearPhone and he eagerly accepted it to place beside his ear.

He stared straight at Spencer as he answered, "Hello? Yes Colonel Shay? We do have a lot to talk about." Freddie turned and walked towards an unoccupied corner of the waiting area away from other people.

Spencer stood and waited for about twenty minutes as he assumed Freddie was explaining all that had happened over the last month between him and Carly. Freddie wrapped up his discussion with the Colonel and approached the artist. He pressed the button to put the phone on speaker.

"Spencer?" he called out in an authoritative voice.

"Yes dad?"

"You're not to give Freddie any trouble. I know you're upset, but Freddie's caught me up as to everything on his end that's been going on and what happened tonight. Carly and he are going to work out what they need to work out without interference from you. Understand?"

Spencer blinked and let out a surprise sigh. He shook his head and whispered, "Yes sir,"

"I can hear the doubt in your voice. I expect you to honor my wishes son. You may be twenty-nine, but you still live under my roof and I still support you, so don't go behind my back and do something you're not supposed to do… damn. I have to go now. Give Carly my love and call me if anything changes and if you can't reach me call your Uncle Barry. I mean it Spencer; call Barry if you can't reach me. Heck, call him right now just to let him know what is going on."

"Yes sir."

"We'll video chat later. Love you. Freddie?"

"Yes sir?"

"Good luck son."

"Thanks Colonel… I think I'm going to need it."

The other end of the phone hung up and Freddie handed it back to the artist. He quickly pocked the phone.

Spencer lifted a finger and was about to speak when Freddie interrupted him, "He means it Spencer. I know you're mad and I know you're hurting, but you're not to go all protective big brother on me. No one meant for this to happen and no one could have seen it happening."

Freddie looked down and shook his head. "I need to get back to Carly." He turned around with the intention to head back to Carly's room.

"Freddie, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't want her thinking you still love her and you'll be there for—"

Freddie snapped around and glared at the artist. In a cold, harsh voice he replied, "Of course I'm going to be there for her! I can't just turn off loving your sister! I've tried; God in Heaven knows I've tried! I'd die for your sister and you damn well know it! Your father knows it and boy does that carry some weight with him! And my damn left knee still knows it too!" Freddie took some calming breaths as stared at the artist with a harsh glare.

Spencer cleared his throat and was taken aback by the outburst. "I'm sorry Freddie, it's just… she's my little sister. I don't want her to get hurt anymore or watch you hurt her whether you mean to or not."

He stepped up closer to the taller man and looked up at him straight in the eyes. "I'm not arguing with you Spencer. You're going to have to physically drag me away from being by her side for the rest of the night… but you can't take me in a fight, not tonight and I'll pound Sam, Gibby, Brad or whoever you put between me and Carly not just silly, but into the ground." He didn't bother waiting for an answer as the turned back around and headed for Carly's room.

Freddie took a set on the bed and took a moment to watch the brunette sleep. He had seen her look adorably miserable with the cold a few times over the years, but nothing like she did at the moment. She looked so fragile that he was surprised he hadn't broken her when holding her earlier. He didn't know how much more he could hurt, but he knew he could keep going for her just a little bit longer. He didn't watch her for too much longer as she turned her head and opened her eyes. He figured she must not have really been asleep and shift in the weight of the bed let her know he was with her. "Hey."

He gave a weak smile. "Hey."

She asked in a somewhat pitiful voice, "You're going to stay the night?"

He gave a slight nod. "Yes. I'm right here and I'll be here when you wake up."

He got up a moment so that he could take off his shoes. Once his shoes were off, he crawled into the bed beside her on her right and draped an arm softly over her abdomen as he rested beside her. Her fingers of her right hand laced on top of his right and with his fingers. She breathed in his scent and it hurt and comforted her all at the same time, but she didn't want him to be anywhere else.

"Freddie?"

"Yes?"

"I should have told you this a long time ago… even as just a friend, but I love you."

The brown eye boy smiled briefly then replied, "I love you too."

She smiled and turned her head so the side of her head rested against his forehead. "Good night Freddie," she whispered as the day's events and being now the wee hours of the morning finally caught up with her.

He kissed her temple then whispered, "Good night Carly."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Vega Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Sunday, Late June 2011

Jade spat out, "I knew that bitch was up to something and there's her chizz for all the world to see." She shook her head with her arms crossed leaning back in her chair at the end of the Vega kitchen table with her back towards the living room. She passed a glance to Beck sitting cattycorner to her right and repeated, "I told you as soon as Freddie mentioned that Sam was acting nice this week that she was up to something. Didn't I?"

Beck raised his hands and sighed with a half smile, "Yes you did and I'm not arguing."

Tori was sitting at Jade's left, but ignored the irate raven haired teenager even if she agreed with the sentiment. She wore a concern expression as she looked to Cat sitting beside her. Cat's mouth was a thin line and her stare was cold as she looked at Tori's laptop screen. Cat had already watched several times the short video on SplashFace of Sam kissing Freddie. It was kind of dark and from an oblique angle from behind Sam, but one could clearly make out the pair as Sam and Freddie with the blonde holding on to the sides of Freddie's arms.

The video already had over a hundred thousand views and climbing with plenty of comments in support of Seddie and a number of negative comments towards Cat on how she should have never gotten in the way of their true love.

Robbie was sitting at the other end of the table with Rex sitting on the table's surface. The puppet began, "Well, you shouldn't be surprise about what happened. That boy already had enough drama in his life to deal with before you two—"

Jade glared at Rex and snapped, "Shut up or I'll rip your other arm off!"

The puppet leaned backwards and eyes shot open and Robbie swallowed nervously.

Tori shook her head looking back and forth between Jade and Rex. She realized she was not going to get involved and felt no need to defend Rex or Robbie, so she looked back to Cat and patted the top of redhead's hand to ask hesitantly, "Have you talked to Freddie?"

The redhead continued to stare harshly at another replay of the video. It was a soft tone, but quite chilly response for the redhead, "I… I just keep getting his voicemail."

Tori gave a half smile as she suggested, "Well, this had to happen sometime during their lock-in last night you said they were having, so he must have been up all night. He's probably still in bed."

Rex spoke up in laughter, "Maybe in bed with—"

Jade shouted, "Finish that joke and _I'm_ chucking you in the jet machine and making sure the plug stays pulled this time."

Rex's mouth dropped opened then quickly shut as he realized the raven haired teenager wasn't joking while Robbie turned his attention to anything other than the rest of the group.

The raven haired teenager then looked to Cat. "Tori's right or something must have happened after the kiss. The video just cuts off before he says anything." She pointed towards the laptop. "He's not kissing back, but that shouldn't surprise any of us."

The redhead's phone rang before she could reply. She immediately looked down at her lap and pulled her phone out of her pocket to answer the call. "Hello? Freddie?"

The rest of them waited eagerly as they wonder what he was saying to the redhead.

"You're in the hospital?" Cat called out in a frightened tone and covered her mouth.

The Hollywood Arts students each formed their own look of concern on their respective faces. Jade's jaw slacked and her mouth hung open. She looked to Beck and mouthed, "I'm going to make her suffer."

Beck shook his head as he knew arguing with her or trying to talk her out of anything was going to be next to useless. He also knew the best thing he could do was just stay out of her way. However, he was a little bit curious about why Jade cared so much (about Freddie) in the first place.

Tori patted Cat's shoulder and whispered, "What's going on?"

Cat asked hesitantly, "Do you mind if I put you on speaker? Everyone else is here and they're concern." A moment later she pulled her phone away from her ear and put it on speaker.

Beck spoke up, "Dude, you're in the hospital?"

"_Yeah, but I'm fine."_ The tiredness in his voice was easy for all of them to hear.

Tori asked with evident concern in her voice, "Why are you in the hospital then?"

"_Carly had a severe asthma attack at school late last night. We've been at the hospital since… I think one this morning, I think I don't know. What time is it now?"_

"It's approaching noon," Jade eagerly supplied.

"_Noon? No wonder I'm starving… never mind, that's not important right now."_

Cat asked jumping back into the conversation, "Is Carly alright?"

"_It was a scary close call. It was a rough night… a very rough night and she's still kind of a mess, but she's well enough to go home. We're going to have to keep an eye on her for the next few days."_ They could hear the sigh through the phone. _"They're wrapping up some paperwork now, so she can be released in the next half hour. I finally got away for a moment to find someplace to use my cell phone, so I haven't had a chance to listen to any of the voicemails you left. I thought it would just be quicker to just call you."_

She whispered in return, "It's alright, I understand."

Tori spoke up, "I didn't know Carly had asthma. She doesn't have an inhaler or anything?"

"_No, she hasn't had an attack since she was seven, so she doesn't keep one. They thought that she outgrew it, but she got really upset last night and it triggered an attack."_

"What got her upset then to cause something like that?" Tori asked with obvious confusion lacing her voice. She disregarded the idea in her head that it could have been Sam kissing Freddie.

There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. He finally spoke up, _"Jade?"_

The pale teenager blinked and looked to the others as she was surprised that he would ask for her. However, after a moment, she replied with a question, "Yeah?"

"_I want to let you know, you were right: Sam was up to something. You won't believe what she pulled… that's partially the reason why Carly got upset."_ They could hear the disgust in his voice as they exchanged knowing and apprehensive glances then heard another loud sigh at the other end of the phone. Jade shook her head in disgust at being so correct about the blonde.

Beck mouthed to the rest of them, "He doesn't know." He then pointed to the laptop. "Hospital, no electronics."

Jade palmed her forehead and whispered out loud, "He doesn't know."

"_Know what?"_ Freddie asked in concern at overhearing what Jade spoke. _"Is there something else that screwed up my night?"_

Jade sighed and looked to everyone, but took an extra moment to look to Cat as if to ask for her permission to answer the question. She remained silent as she looked at her phone. Jade never had the problem of being the barer of bad news, but for some reason this time struck a nerve. It was probably because it was concerning Cat and Freddie; her (she'd admit to no one) best friend and the guy that wasn't a loser and didn't think of her as a gank (and actually cared that 'Clowns Don't Bounce' was canceled). She let out a breath then replied, "There's a video on SplashFace of Sam kissing you from what looks like last night."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. For a few moments they each thought that the phone had dropped the call until he replied, _"So I was right about the set up… she finds_ anyway_ to screw me over. She finds a way."_ They could hear him snort out in disgust before continuing, _"That's what I get for trying to be nice to her: a knife in the gut."_

Beck continued for them with a question, "What happened man?"

There was another long pause at the other end of the phone. _"It all stated last night when Carly thought Sam liked our intern for the show, Brad, but wouldn't admit it, so between working on our projects we were trying to get them together to talk and maybe get Sam to admit liking Brad. Carly's first attempt failed, so I went to go speak with Sam. The idea was that if your friend and your enemy are telling you the same thing, maybe you should listen. I was giving her kind of a pep talk about her taking a chance with Brad and in the middle of it she grabs and kisses me. That blonde headed she demon kisses me. It took me a sec to process what happened then I got out of there figuring that was exactly what she was doing: setting me up and recording it."_

They could hear him taking another deep breath. _"When I walked away, I caught Carly looking out one of the classroom windows at us. I thought Carly was part of the set up, but I was wrong. I was so pissed at the time… I said some things to her… I told her to go to Hell, among other things… the shock of seeing Sam kiss me and what I said to her… Carly just… she just dropped in front of me from the attack. I thought she was going to die right then and there."_

Cat remained quiet throughout his explanation of the last night's events. Tori noticed and patted the redhead on the shoulder.

Jade interrupted the somber mood that had fallen at hearing that Carly could have died, "How do you know she wasn't and the attack was caused by you catching her?"

Cat looked to Jade and her brow furled as she admonished Jade with a whisper, "Jade."

"It has to be asked," Jade replied firmly. She looked back to the phone and raised her voice, "Sounds like a good scheme to try to make you look like a two-timer: Carly ropes you into helping Sam then she lays one on you with someone recording it. The only hitch in the plan was you catching Carly… and the fact that none of us would believe it."

Freddie replied in an exhausted voice, _"Carly didn't set me up."_

"Why are you so sure?" Jade replied with an arced eyebrow.

"_Because she swore on her mother's grave… she swore on her mother's grave she didn't know and some other things she said when she briefly woke up early this morning. Right now she thinks it didn't even happen; that last night was just some nightmare she had and she was too much of a mess and on medications to lie to me if she wanted to. I just told her it was and that calmed her. I thought she'd have another attack if I told her the truth. I can't believe I said… Sam then Carly… and now a video on SplashFace…"_

There was silence again on the other end of the phone as well as in the Vega home as even Jade was silenced by that information. They glanced to one another again as they let the gravity of the situation sink into their minds: an apparent setup, Carly in the hospital and Freddie blaming himself for letting both happen.

Cat took a deep breath and in the soft and kind voice, the redhead whispered to the phone, "Fredward… sweetheart? It's okay. I know… I know you've had a bad night, but you're going to need to be the strong man I know you are for Carly for the next few days until she gets better. Don't worry about Sam or anyone else does or says. We know the truth… I know the truth. You need to be strong for Carly and be strong for yourself. You call me when you can and we'll see you in about two weeks."

They heard a calming breath. There was another long pause before he spoke again, _"Thanks Caterina… thanks everyone… thanks for the support."_

Beck spoke up causally with a small smile, "No problem."

"_Cat? I need to talk to you privately."_

"Okay," she replied and turned off the speaker. She held the phone to her ear and stepped away from the table and headed out to the back patio through the kitchen doors.

Once the doors were closed, she stated in a whisper, "We can talk."

"_I need to tell you something. After I told Carly it was just a nightmare, she thought that she had lost me. I thought she still meant she thought that I didn't want anything to do with her because of what happened, but… I was sitting on the bed with her and she… she ah… she kissed me and I… I kissed her back… I don't… I don't know what that means or why I really let it happen, but… I'm sorry. I stayed with her last night because I was afraid to let her go and she was just as afraid of losing me."_

He was surprised with she asked in a soft and compassionate voice, "Freddie?"

She waited for his response as she only heard silence. A few moments later, he finally replied in a defeated tone, _"Yes?"_

"It looks like Sam tried to set you up to make it look like you were ah… cheating? When you were trying to help her… and Carly could have died last night in front of you. We talked about this last week. I know there's still a big piece of you that still loves her and still has you and seeing her like that… I can't imagine what that was like for you or what you're still going through right now with everything. I can't imagine what she went through hearing you say that to her. I know she still cares about you or she wouldn't have been trying to make amends with you all this time. I promise it's going to be okay."

Another silence fell upon them. He sounded like he was at his rope's end as he whispered, _"Cat… you're too good to me."_

She let a small smile form on her face. "You're a good man Fredward. Just remember that you have friends here that care and that I… we may not mean it romantically, but I love you."

"_Thank you… I love you too…"_ He sighed before continuing, _"I wish I didn't have to go, but Spencer is coming, so…"_

She giggled then replied, "I'll talk to you when you can call. Tell Carly we'll be thinking about her."

"_I will and I'll talk to you later, bye Cat."_

"Bye Freddie," she whispered as if she was caressing him.

A moment later she pressed the end call button then headed back inside. She was immediately greeted with the array of concerned and worried faces of her friends.

Tori wore the deepest concerned look on her face. "Cat? Are you okay?"

"Yes, but Freddie… I wish I was there for him. He's… he's all alone to be the strong one. No one's there for him."

Beck ran a hand through his hair as he cleared his throat before stating confidently, "Cat, he's going to be okay. We both have just one more week of school then he'll be flying down before you know it. He'll be away from all that mess and it'll be fine."

Cat bit her lip for a moment before answering, "Not exactly… Carly is coming too and well, before last night so was Sam. That was the plan."

Tori raised an eyebrow as she asked with evident shock, "Why are they coming along?"

"Because he didn't want Carly to be alone and Sam can't be left behind. They're friends and they're trying to put their friendship back together. He still loves her… a big part of him still loves her and he just can't—"

Jade interrupted with a surprisingly sympathetic tone, "Stop loving someone he has loved for years… it's… understandable." She glanced to Beck and gave him a half smile. "You just can't stop." She then looked to Tori and continued, "No matter who says you should just forget about them."

"Hey, I'm the one that got the dog, okay," Tori replied defensively and pointed her finger at the raven haired teenager.

"Fine," she replied sarcastically then looked to Cat. "If Sam shows up, I am not being nice to her at all."

Cat frowned for a moment and looked past Robbie still sitting at the end of the table towards the tabletop. The redhead spoke with a soft, but cold voice, "Jade?"

"Yeah?" she asked with a concerned look and raised eyebrow.

"You remember how you came up with a plan for Hayley and Tara?"

"Yes," she replied slowly.

Cat looked up to meet her eyes and asked, "Could you come up with a plan for Sam? If she does come down?"

Jade blinked in surprise then a wicked smirk formed on her face. "I'd love to."

Tori spoke with a nervous laugh, "You could always break her nose for kissing your… boyfriend?"

Cat grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this installment. See you on Tuesday for the next installment.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. I have another wonderful installment for you. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. People have so many questions about Sam. Answering them in detail would be spoilers, but I would hope that you as the reader will continue reading to find out **_**WHY**_** she did what she did. Well, on to the story.**

Chapter 20

Freddie let out a breath as he pressed the end call button on his phone then slipped it into one of his back pockets. The weary artist reached him a moment later and he released a breath, but gave a relieved smile. He sounded pretty cheerful in spite of the situation, "We're about ready to go. They're rolling Carly out now."

Freddie nodded with a relieved smile of his own. "That's good."

The pair stared at one another for a moment trying to figure out what else could be said as a heavy silence fell between the pair. The last time they had spoken was last night with the understanding if Spencer got in the brown eye teenager's way in regards to his sister that Freddie would hurt him (or anyone else for that matter). The look in Freddie's eyes when he told him what would happen left no doubt in the artist's mind that he would have kept his word then it would have been worst afterwards answering to his father.

Of all people to break the tension, it was Sam approaching from the direction Spencer had came from moments ago. "Spencer?" the blonde called out then thumbed over her shoulder. "They need you to sign one last thing and Carly will be right down."

"Oh, okay," he replied with a nod then sprinted off back to the front desk.

As soon as Spencer was out of sight, Freddie grabbed Sam by the arm tightly and almost yanked her off her feet as he dragged to a secluded spot in the waiting area. Once they reached a spot without too much traffic passing, he released her arm and Sam began to shout, "Watch it nu—"

Freddie leaned forward and his glare directly into her eyes caused her to shut her mouth in an instant. She didn't realize, but she took a nervous swallow as he continued to stare. It was a cold and determined whisper from the Tech-Producer's lips, "When Carly comes out we are going to put on big smiles and pretend everything is okay between us. Carly thinks the last few minutes before her attack last night were just a nightmare and that her attack was caused by whatever stinky smoke they used on Spencer. She's going to keep thinking that for at least the next few days."

Sam blinked then raised an eyebrow and made a face. "So you want to lie to her?"

He hissed out harshly, "You're blasted right we are going to lie to her until she's strong enough to handle what really happened last night."

"You mean what you caused," she replied in disgust.

Freddie clenched his jaw tight for a moment and a low growling sound rose up from deep in his throat.

Sam swallowed again as those cold eyes looked as if they were looking not just through her, but down at her as if she was just a bug for him to step on. If any other person looked at her in that manner she would have clocked them, but after last night and everything over the last month, he'd probably take out everything on her and for the first time she was concern whether she could actually beat him in a fight.

"You set up the situation to make me think Carly betrayed me; either to try to make my life miserable by getting Cat to leave or end my friendship with Carly once and for all and no one could have seen that happening, so save your lame attempt to try to guilt me into taking the entire burden and leaving you guilt free. Carly and I will talk about what happened later, but for right now, you will play along if you really care about her."

It was a cheap blow with the last statement and she resented him for it. She set that aside for the moment as she replied, "Do you remember how she acted that last time she found out we kissed because neither one of us told her? You want to go through that again?"

The brown eye teenager snapped back, "Yes I do remember and that is exactly why you are going to keep your mouth shut about last night and help me keep her off SplashFace."

Sam frowned and shifted her gaze away from his eyes.

Freddie snorted out in disgust. "Yeah, I know about the SplashFace video and _Cat does too_. She also knows the truth, everyone that counts knows the truth and they didn't believe your little stunt for a moment. So your silly little scheme didn't work whatever you were hoping to accomplish with it."

"It wasn't a scheme," she whispered out in a hollowed tone and averted her gaze from his eyes.

Freddie chuckled darkly. "You really think I'm that much of an idiot?" Freddie raised his hands and shook his head. "Don't bother to answer that, I'm going to do what Cat said I should do with you: not worry about you. I don't have the time or the patience. My only concern right now is Carly and her wellbeing."

"How do you think Cat's going to react to that?"

He dropped his hands and gave her another cold stare. "That's none of your business how she reacts. What you need to worry about is keeping Carly calm and happy until she's one hundred percent, so we're going to act like one big happy trio and then after that… you can go straight to Hell."

Sam blinked and leaned away from him, but remained silent.

Freddie glanced over and saw that Spencer was taking over for a nurse and started pushing Carly along in a wheelchair towards them.

The brown eye boy whispered to the blonde, "Remember: one big happy trio." Before she could reply, he started walking towards Carly.

Spencer stopped pushing and brought the wheelchair to a stop once Freddie reached the pair. Freddie smiled hesitantly as he knelt down at a diagonal in front and slightly to her right then gently took her right hand into a soft grasp. "Hey," he whispered as he looked her up and down. Her hair was brushed straight and pulled away from her face behind her ears and she looked a little paler than normal. She had changed back into her clothes from last night, but her Rock Steed shirt was quite wrinkled from last nights events. He was thankful that the shirt hadn't been damaged, because he knew she liked that one very much. However, he knew he would have rushed out and gotten her a replacement shirt.

She took a moment to look down at his hand tenderly holding hers then looked up and gave a small smile. She answered softly, "Hi."

His smile brightened at seeing the small smile on her face. "You ready to go?"

She laughed softly then replied, "Yes, I want to go home, crawl into bed with some nice pajamas and just watch some Girly Cow until I fall asleep."

Freddie joined her with a soft laugh of his own. "That sounds like a great way to spend the afternoon." He then stood up and still held on to her hand as Spencer started pushing again with Freddie walking beside her. Sam approached a few seconds later and started walking on the other side of the wheel chair. The blonde and brown eye boy traded fake smiles to one another.

As they passed through the automatic glass doors, Spencer grinned and explained, "I'm going to go pull the car up."

Carly nodded her acknowledgement.

The lanky artist brought the wheelchair to a halt then walked around Freddie and started across the parking lot.

Freddie glanced to Sam. "Carly explained that she wanted to watch some Girly Cow when she got home, so it looks like we're going to have our own marathon today."

"You don't watch Girly Cow," Sam pointed out with a confused expression.

"I'll manage, but can you manage the snackage for us?"

She glanced to Carly who wore a happy expression. The blonde snorted out a laugh. "Mama'll make sure we have all the junk food we need."

Carly gave a soft giggle and shook her head. "I don't know what I'd do without you two."

Sam laughed before replying, "Don't worry about it kiddo. We're going to have a blast this afternoon with just pigging out on Girly Cow and unhealthy snacks."

The SUV pulled up to the curve a few moments later and Sam decided to push her towards the door as Freddie opened the passenger door for Carly.

Carly braced her hands on the armrests and wobbly attempted to stand up from the wheelchair. She was barely out of her seat when Freddie leaned over and whispered, "I got you." He slid a hand behind her back then over to rest his hand on her left hip as his right arm looped under her knees. Carly wrapped her right arm over his shoulder and behind the back of his neck as her left hand rested gently on his chest. He lifted her out of the chair without a problem while Sam had the sense enough to pull the chair back to allow him to set Carly in her seat.

Once she was in her seat, but before Freddie could pull his arm from behind her back, Carly shut her eyes and bit her bottom lip as she mewed out in pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked deathly afraid he had hurt her as his right hand rested on her knee.

She shook her head then opened her eyes. "My ribs are just kinda sore for some reason."

Freddie glanced down towards her lap then back to meet her eyes. "Well, ah… I had to do CPR to keep you breathing. I may have pushed a little too hard."

"Oh? Oh…" she blinked and whispered with a hint of dread in her voice as she saw the glimmer of fear pass his eyes. "So you saved my life again?"

Freddie took a sharp intake of breath and the shiver that went down his spine went straight to his left knee. "Of course I'd save your life. I wasn't going to let Heaven have another angel yet."

She looked down and a soft blush rose unto her cheeks.

Freddie pulled his arm from around her and reached over to his left to get the seatbelt. A moment later he fastened her seatbelt and made sure she was secure in her seat. He looked up and gave her his boyish smile, "All set?"

She gave him the warmest smile she thought she could give him. "I'm all set."

Shay Apartment

Seattle, WA

Carly changed into her favorite pajamas (her purple short sleeve purple shirt and grey light sweatpants) and flopped in her bed as soon as she reached it. She barely had the strength to change, but was glad that she was able to without Sam's help. She didn't realize how draining the whole experience was for her last night. She was sprawled out with her arms out as she took a relaxing breath and looked up at the ceiling. She glanced around towards the gummy bear chandelier and that brought a brief smile to her face. She closed her eyes for a moment and just let the peace settle over her. She was home and on her bed and last night was just a nightmare. She let a brief smile form on her face as she relaxed in the moment of knowing that Freddie didn't really hate her and was still there for her… and still loved her… that Freddie's supposed harsh words last night were just her mind playing a dirty trick on her because of some silly gas she had used on Spencer. She guessed it served her right for treating her brother that way in the glass box and using him in their experiment.

"Glad to be home kiddo?" the blonde laughed as she was on still on the level floor of the bedroom.

Carly giggled as she opened her eyes. "Yes and back in my own bed." Carly turned her head and looked to the blonde still wearing her clothes from last night as she as the rest hadn't left her side the entire night. She blinked as the memory of her nightmare from last night flashed through her mind and she frowned slightly with her eyebrows furling.

Sam tilted her head to the side and cracked a smile before asking, "What?"

Carly blinked as she realized that she was staring at her friend. She took a few seconds to sit up then shook her head. "Nothing, I just had this weird nightmare last night before I woke up the first time."

"Oh?" the blonde asked as she walked up the steps to sit on the edge of the bed.

The brunette let out a snort and shook her head again. "I ah… I dreamt last night at the lock-in that you kissed Freddie. I'm sorry; I guess I'm just wigging out on it a little bit."

Sam laughed nervously and avoided her gaze for a moment. She looked back up and released a nervous breath she didn't realize that she had inhaled after the laugh. "Wow Carls, they must have given you some pretty good meds to hallucinate something like that. Me? Kiss Freddie again?" She laughed nervously again, "That's crazy. It was crazy enough the first time."

Carly laughed in relief. "Yeah, those things can really make you see things."

The blonde nodded her head as she fought down the rarely felt feeling of nervousness. She decided to put a grin on her face and state, "I'm going to borrow some of your clothes and grab a quick shower then we are going to pig out and watch Girly Cow until you go to sleep."

Carly gave a nod and the blonde quickly got off the bed and went to Carly's drawer by the door. She grabbed a handful of clothes out of the drawer and headed out of the room.

The brunette watched as the blonde hurried off really quickly and that struck her as odd for some reason. She let out a breath and brushed the concern to the side. She decided to chalk it up to just being hypersensitive and reading too much into things because of last night. Last night's dream shook her up more than she realized. She lay back down on the bed and just tried to let the worry drain away. She was going to take the rest of the day just to relax with her friends and try to put the whole ordeal behind her.

She didn't rest long as there was a knock on the door. She turned her head once again and saw Freddie poke his head around the edge of the open door.

Freddie knocked on the bedroom door. "Carly? Can I come in?"

"Yes, I'm decent," she called out with a laugh in her voice.

Freddie let out a relieved breath then entered the bedroom and approached her bed.

Carly rolled to her side to get a good look at him. She swallowed as she saw Freddie in his black athletic undershirt that showed off his arms and shoulders. She still couldn't figure out where he had been hiding those muscles and thought he really could put Cort to shame. _He really could have pounded Steven silly. What a stupid remark I told him when he wanted to beat up Steven. He just wanted to defend me and I had to…_

Freddie interrupted her self-loathing by asking, "So, where's Sam?"

"She said she was going to take a quick shower and be right back, probably with the food."

Freddie nodded with a smile. "Understandable, that's were I just came back from. I needed to wash away the last twelve hours away myself," he replied and ran a hand through what she realized was still somewhat damp hair.

Carly's mind flashed through for a moment of seeing him in the shower and imagining his arms and chest. She blushed for a moment as she realized that her mind started traveling places she really didn't want to for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Freddie asked in a near panicked voice.

"What? Why do you ask?"

"You're blushing," he pointed towards her face.

"Sorry, I'm fine. It's just… I guess I'm still coming off the meds and the tiredness is bothering me."

Freddie nodded and accepted the explanation then walked over to have a seat on her left on the bed. He gave her a brief smile then started in a cheerful tone, "We are going to have a great afternoon. You don't have to worry about a thing. We are going to pamper you for the rest of the day and you'll be fine tonight. Spencer'll have your nebulizer ready for tonight to make sure everything is fine for you."

She cleared her throat as she tried to set up. Freddie immediately reached over and gently took her arms in his hands to help her up. She gave him a thankful nod and he released his hands. "Ah Freddie?"

"Yes?"

She looked down at her lap. "Will you… will you stay with me tonight like you did last night?"

He took a deep intake of breath then nodded. "If you want me to."

"Please?"

He gave her a reassuring smile and a slight nod of his head. "Absolutely, whatever you need from me."

"Thank you… thank you Freddie."

"You're welcome Carly."

She let out a relieved breath and began, "Now all I have to do later is to finish writing up my project—"

Freddie raised a hand and smiled. "Gibby's getting it all together for you and I'm going to look at it later to make sure it's right. All you have to do is look over the introduction and conclusion and make any changes if you want or leave it the way it is."

The brunette tilted her head to the side and smiled. "You can't write it for me Freddie—"

Freddie grinned and placed a finger over her lips. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Carly closed her eyes and gently shook her head as his finger fell away from her lips. She mouthed, "Thank you."

His grin turned into a small smile and gave her a slight nod of his head. "Not a problem."

The pair looked to one another for a few brief seconds before Freddie stood up. The web-hostess immediately frowned, but Freddie quickly explained, "I'm going to go set up your laptop for Girly Cow as we wait for Sam to comeback with the snackage and Girly Cow DVDs."

She grinned then replied, "Okay, but I don't know what happened to my laptop."

"Oh, Gibby brought it to the hospital last night after a quick run back to the school. I just need to run back downstairs and be right back. Yell if you need me and I'll fly back up."

She giggled and shook her head as he left the room. She whispered once he was out of the room. "My hero."

About twenty minutes later, the trio sat up with various pillows with their backs against the padded headboard of the bed and getting under the light bed cover. Freddie was on Carly's left as he had set up that laptop on a stand in the middle of the bed as Sam rested on her right and loaded the first disk into the laptop. Freddie reached over to tap the button to start the video playing while Carly looped her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. She was going to hang on to him as long as he would let her.

He turned his head slightly to watch the brunette look towards the laptop's screen and spared a small smile before he joined her gaze towards the screen.

They spent the next several hours watching episode after episode of Girly Cow and stuffing themselves with plenty of 'unhealthy' snacks and even a homemade pizza that Spencer brought up for them to eat after the first half hour of their marathon. They laughed and commented on the show or just randomly talk about other topics and forget about the show for a few minutes.

It was approaching only about five in the afternoon as Carly felt her eyelids get heavy as she snuggled her head onto Freddie's shoulder as her other arm was still looped with Sam's arm. The brunette couldn't feel anymore content as she did at the moment with her friends and safe and sound. She wished that her second part of what she wanted for the afternoon didn't call out to her: sleep.

The blonde watched as her friend finally dozed off to sleep resting on the Tech-Producer and he didn't move as to not disturb her. Sam glanced to Freddie then whispered, "I'm going to head downstairs for a bit. This is a little too awkward for me having to share a bed with both of you and her asleep."

"Have fun," Freddie whispered out. He would have said something far more sarcastic, but he just didn't have the energy at the moment and really didn't want to get into a fight that could have woken Carly.

Carly slowly walked into the iCarly studios through the red trimmed glass door with a perplex look on her face. She looked to see Sam and Brad behind Freddie's workhorse camera setup on a tripod directed towards the back window. They looked quite eager to get started and were double checking to make sure everything was set up for the show to begin.

She then noticed that Freddie was standing in the center of the studio wearing his tuxedo that he wore at Hollywood Art's Prom. She allowed a brief smile as she realized how good looking he still looked from the last time she saw him just try it on before his trip down to L.A. Her thoughts were pulled back at the matter at hand as Freddie laughed and waved Carly to step further inside of studios. "You have perfect timing. We're just about to start."

Freddie looked back to the camera and began the program, "We have a very special iCarly broadcast tonight for you and it is the reason I'm wearing this tuxedo… tonight for all you iCarly fans to see, I am marrying my longtime girlfriend, Caterina Valentine!" He looked over his shoulder and waved over to someone off camera. Cat walked from behind the studio waiting area in a white, formfitting strapless wedding dress with a train that Jade (in her own strapless black dress) was help holding up to prevent it from dragging across the studio floor. Cat also wore a white sheer veil pulled back showing her smiling face with her red velvet hair brushed straight and wore a white pearl necklace and bracelet around her left wrist. Once she was standing beside the brown eye teenager, they shared a brief kiss.

"Oh my God," Carly called out in a hushed whisper as she covered her mouth with both of her hands. "What are you doing?"

Freddie blinked and spared a glance towards Cat for a moment before looking back at the brunette. "I'm getting married? Remember? We even got the same minister that married your parents, Pastor Stevens."

"But, but… why?" she puttered out with her eyes wide open.

"Because… I love her?" Freddie replied raising an eyebrow and looked to her with worry.

Carly shook her head. "No, no, no, you can't marry her." She then poked herself in the chest. "You love me. It's always been me even if you tried to be with others, you always loved me."

Cat smiled then replied, "But Carly, you fell in love with someone else and you're getting married too after us, remember?"

"What?" Carly looked down and realized that she was wearing a wedding dress as well. It was a strapless white dress with the skirt that reached just to her knees and she realized that she was wearing a white bandana around her head with silver embroidery around the edges.

She looked up to the redhead and shouted, "I am? To who?"

Cat giggled and motioned a hand towards Carly's right. The brunette looked to her right and saw Robbie holding Rex (who was in a mini-tuxedo himself) fairly close to her. The puppet wobbly his head from side to side and whispered in a confident tone, "Once you go Rex, you never go back."

Carly blinked and her mouth dropped open. "No!" She looked back to Freddie and shouted, "Please—"

"Don't marry Cat," she whispered out.

Freddie blinked at the brunette resting on his shoulder as she struggled in her sleep. It took a moment for him to realize that she was dreaming. He reached out with his left hand and brushed some of her hair out of her face and behind her right ear. He whispered, "I'm not going to marry Cat. It's just a dream. You're just dreaming."

That seemed to calm her as she relaxed back onto his shoulder and a small smile formed on her face.

She may have become content, but Freddie couldn't help but frown. The Colonel's words haunted him: _Good luck son._ He knew that he'd need it if he was going to get through the next few weeks.

Carly whispered out on last thing before falling back into her restful sleep, "So I don't have to marry Rex?"

Freddie blinked and just shook his head. _Now that's a nightmare,_ he thought. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Never."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Shay Apartment

Seattle, WA

Monday, June 20, 2011

It was a bright Monday morning of the last week of school with Thursday being the last day of school with an early one hour release, but at the moment Carly didn't care as she laid her head on her folded arm and on her side to watch Freddie's peaceful face as he slept. He had held her throughout the night just as he promised just as he had the previous night. Anytime she stirred or couldn't get comfortable, he'd pull her close and whisper that everything was okay and she'd fall right back to peaceful slumber.

_Was this the sight that Cat woke up to last week?_ crossed her mind.

Freddie spending the night at Cat's was just a given, but it was never mentioned where he slept last week or last month after she stormed off to leave him with the redhead. She couldn't keep the idea out of her mind that the pair had slept in the same bed. She shuddered at the thought of how far they had gone after Cat's prom. She knew she didn't have any right to be jealous of the fact if they had done… like the horses… she knew she didn't have the right to be his first… but she couldn't help as the regret and jealousy seemed to fill her chest as she continued to watch _her_ brown eye boy. _But he's not mine anymore… I never claimed him and now…_

Maybe it was out of jealousy or fear, but she couldn't resist, so she gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and he stirred slightly. A brief smile formed on his lips then he settled back to sleep. She would have preferred to stay like this as long as she could, but unfortunately, nature called, so she had to roll out of bed and not disturb him.

The brunette held on to the wooden handrail of the stairs as she took one careful step at a time down until she reached the first floor of the apartment. She gave a passing glance towards the messy couch and coffee table where she assumed that Sam had spent the night. She didn't see the blonde anywhere, so she just assumed that she was in the hall bathroom next to Spencer's room.

Carly walked over and took a seat in the red bar stool and brought up a window on the computer to go online since she hadn't had a chance yesterday. She couldn't understand why Freddie and Sam kept distracting her with videos and games for the rest of the night after waking up and eating dinner. She brushed that to the side as she quickly checked her emails and read through the ones checking up on her: a long one from her father, one from her Uncle Barry about taking care of herself, and one from her Godmother Ruby telling her she'd fly up if she needed her. All the concern was touching and brought a smile to her face. She took several more minutes to send some replies that she was alright and would talk to them later. She then brought up SplashFace to see the latest funny videos because she needed a good laugh. She desperately wanted to continue lightening the seriousness that had fallen on her shoulders.

Her eyebrows furled when she saw one of the top videos of the day titled 'Seddie Kiss' and noticed how many views it had received especially after it showed that it was just posted yesterday real early in the morning. What struck her as even stranger is that the preview thumbnail showed Freddie and Sam in the same shirts they were wearing at the lock-in.

Those two things peaked her interest, so she clicked on the thumbnail. It only took a few seconds to come up and buffer before it began playing. She blinked as she realized that they were wearing Saturday night's shirts and it looked like the outside quad area of the school. She watched in stunned silence as she watched what happened next: Sam was kissing Freddie.

"Oh my God," Carly whispered looking at the video. She blinked as the events of two midnights ago flashed to the forefront of her mind:

_She was looking out the window at Freddie attempting to convince Sam that she didn't need to hide her feelings. The next moment she was watching Sam grab Freddie by the shoulders and pull him into a kiss. Carly blinked as she watched the scene unfold: Freddie took a step back and shouted something to Sam that she couldn't hear. The next moment he turned and stormed towards the door back to the classroom. She turned and looked to him as soon as he entered. He glanced to her then back out the door towards Sam then back to her. That look… the look he was giving her terrified her as it looked as if it could kill her if it had the power to do such a thing._

_She finally found her voice and tried denying knowing anything Sam plan on doing, but he wouldn't listen. He shouted at her: "Bullshit! I gave you your chance and this is what you do? Fool me into letting you back into my life so you could plunge the knife deeper? I love you and this is what you do to me! Try to sabotage my relationship with Cat!" There was so much anger in his voice that it terrified her. "You didn't know my ass! This is nothing but a setup from the start by the two of you to get Cat to break up with me, lose my _real_ friends in L.A. and get me back on your damn leash because I wouldn't have anyone left. You probably just recorded the whole damn thing with your PearPhone and plan to email it to Cat anonymously showing that I'm cheating on her while I'm Seattle… like Steven cheated on you when he was in L.A. Well to Hell with Sam and to Hell with you, because I'm done with all this bullshit!"_

_Her breath became shorter as she desperately tried to figure out something to say that would convince him that she was telling the truth and she didn't do any of the things she was accusing her of doing. She reached up and grabbed at her chest and then…_

Carly covered her mouth with both of her hands and her eyelids opened wide. She let out a slow breath and whispered, "Oh my God… It really happened. All of it…"

"Hey Carls—" the familiar voice of Sam called out from behind her.

The brunette turned on the stool and looked to the blonde with a panic look as she was cutting through the living room to reach the web-hostess. She uttered the first words that came to mind, "You really kissed Freddie!"

"Ah—" Sam started and blinked in surprise at the outburst. She slowly whispered out, "I did what?"

"I saw the video!" she shouted as she pointed to the computer monitor. "It wasn't a nightmare. I didn't have an asthma attack from the smoke in the box I had it because of what happened between me and Freddie after you kissed him."

Sam gently spoke, "Carly—"

She jumped out of her seat and stalked towards the blonde with her anger flashing across her eyes, "It really happened! Do you know what this means? You kissed Freddie knowing he's with Cat! He thinks we set him up! You know how fragile our friendship is right now and you do this?"

Sam raised her hands and calmly spoke, "Carly, you need to calm down."

"Calm down! You've sabotaged my friendship with him just so mama could win! It wasn't a contest between you! He thinks I helped you try to break them up! Do you know he told me after you kissed him? He told me to go to Hell and doesn't want anything to do with me!"

Sam took in a breath at hearing that… now she was getting an idea of _why_ Freddie was so mad. He had said that to Carly and it must have cut into him pretty deep.

Carly let out a breath and started pacing back and forth in front of Sam. She started nibbling on her left thumb nail and started mumbling, "One more screw up and I would lose him. That's what we agreed to after he got back from L.A. the first time. If I messed up then our friendship was done and now it's over. I know the truth and now he doesn't have to pretend anymore—"

"He's not pretending."

She turned sharply and looked directly into Sam's eyes. "Of course he is! He hates me now! He only did it because he felt guilty for thinking he caused it. It wasn't his fault." Her breath was becoming shorter and she could feel her heart bouncing off of her ribcage. She didn't care and pushed on, "He thinks I betrayed him. Did you see the look in his eyes? He was so mad at what had happened, but he was so hurt that he thought I would do that to him… all because you had to kiss him!"

Sam frowned and stared back at her friend. "I don't care if he's mad, I don't care how hurt he is and I'm not sorry."

Carly laughed out dismissively. "You will never take responsibility for what you do."

Sam squared her shoulders and looked towards her brunette friend. "Actually I am. I admit I did it, but I'm not sorry for it and I'm not going to apologize to anyone for it including you. I did try to break them up. The only thing I'm sorry about is that it apparently didn't work. Cat saw the video and didn't believe it and the rest of them in L.A. don't believe it either."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Why? Why did you do it? Do you like Freddie?"

Sam laughed loudly and shook her head as if Carly had told the funniest joke she had ever heard. She had to wipe a tear that formed under and eye before she continued, "Oh God no, I still hate the boy, he's just becoming tolerable and maybe a little likeable now that he's grown a spine, but I don't like him that way."

Carly's mouth just gapped open as she tried to process what Sam was telling her. She finally found her voice and asked, "Then why?"

Sam released a breath and gave her a warm smile. "To get Cat out of the picture for you."

Carly took a step towards Sam. "What?"

"Carls…" She tilted her head to the side and spoke in a soft voice. "You fell for the nub over the last month. You finally fell in love with him… for real this time. Yeah, you and I've been fighting about whether Freddie or me should be your best friend, but I finally realized after he said he was going to go to L.A. for the summer and you were so down about it that I didn't have to be afraid of being beaten out of being your best friend, because Freddie and I weren't competing for the same thing. You really want him to be yours and no one else's and if mama had to kiss the nub to help make that happen then I think that's the least I could do for my best friend. Mama does play to win… to win for you."

Carly took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself and studied her friend with confused eyes. "But…" She sighed and her shoulders slumped as she felt defeated. "I've already lost him to her…"

Sam chuckled once more before speaking, "You're Carly Taylor Shay and you are the love of his life. You really think she can beat you for his heart?"

Carly shook her head and looked to the floor. "No, he hates me—"

Sam walked over and gently took the girl by the shoulders. Carly took a few seconds to find the courage to look up at her friend's blue eyes. "Freddie would not leave your side last night or the night you were in the hospital and would have pounded anyone silly if they tried to stop him and that includes Spencer. Freddie didn't do that out of guilt, he did it because he loves you. He only hates one person and that's me because he blames me for setting it up to make it look like you betrayed him. He's quite mad at me for that." She snorted out with a smirk, "He even told me once you were back on your feet that I could go to Hell."

Carly lowered her head and whispered, "He told me to go to Hell too."

Sam gave her a sad smile. "That's only because of what it looked like, but he doesn't mean it. You said he was hurt when he said it… how many stupid things have we said when we're hurt… like that night in L.A. when you told him that he never loved you."

Now that was a knife plunged into her own heart. She knew she'd regret saying those words to him for the rest of her life. Carly looked up as the blonde haired troublemaker continued, "He's given you the chance, maybe you should give the nub the same consideration? If you had heard what he told Spencer about how much he still loves you when Spencer didn't want Freddie to spend the night… you wouldn't have any doubts about his love for you… I certainly don't anymore."

Carly closed her mouth softly and just stared at her friend while she processed all that had been exchanged between them and what happened Saturday into Sunday morning. She was about to speak when the pair heard a loud yawn coming from the stairs. They turned their heads to see the brown eye teenager scratched the back of his head as he made his way down the stairs.

Once he spotted Carly, he gave a huge grin towards her, but he immediately lost it when he saw Carly's fearful look on her face. "What's wrong?"

**Author's Note: I guess we now know why Sam did what she did. See you on Thursday.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Hello everyone and happy reading. I hope you enjoy this week's installment with Chapters 22 and Chapter 23. These will end what I consider the "Part 2" section of this story. It's a good place to take a break and I'm going to be taking a week off from my normal posting schedule on this story and resume on Tuesday, September 20. Thanks again for reading.**

Chapter 22

Carly took a deep breath as she looked at the brown eye teenager as he quickly approached then stopped less than a foot from her. She saw such fear in his eyes, but she couldn't understand why or maybe she was just seeing her own reflection. The fear that Sam could be wrong stabbed at her and that as soon as she spoke, he would turn and walk out of her life for good. She had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves.

Her silence as well as taking the breath must have concerned him further as he took both of her hands into his hands. He whispered fearfully as he looked straight into her eyes, "Carly? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? Do you want to go back upstairs and lie down?"

Carly shook her head and attempted to speak even if she didn't know what to say, but Sam spoke up first and quickly said, "She knows. She remembers Saturday night. She saw the video and thinks you hate her. I tried to tell her that you don't, but she won't listen to me, so just tell her."

Freddie looked to the blonde and blinked as he processed what she rattled off in a hurry. His hesitation didn't last more than a few moments as he glared at the blonde. A part of him wanted nothing more than take every bit of anger he was feeling at the moment out on the blonde and put _her_ in the hospital for failing the simplest acts of keeping up the charade of everything being fine. However, he had more pressing concerns and looked back to Carly.

She stared at him with that childlike fear that stabbed him in the heart. In the faintest of whispers, she spoke, "It wasn't a nightmare."

His shoulders slumped and gave a disheartening frown. His eyes went from hateful to sad in the time it took him to blink. "It was for me. I almost lost you forever."

The brunette's mouth slacked open and stared at him in total confusion. She closed her mouth and swallowed down at least some of her fear so she could speak the next words, "I didn't try to break up you and Cat. Please don't give up on us—"

He took the step forward and wrapped her into a hug. The brunette blinked then a few moments later she lifted her arms up to wrap behind his neck and rest on his shoulders. She pulled him tighter terrified to let him go. She shut her eyes tight and let the tears start to leak out. The next moment her breath hitched and let the tears flow freely.

"Shhh, I know, I know," he whispered back. "None of this was your fault and I'm not leaving."

Carly took a short breath as she heard his reassuring words. She lifted her head slightly to whisper into his ear, "You're not leaving?"

"No, I'm sorry what I said to you Saturday night. I should have never said what I said to you. I was wrong. I'm sorry. With everything I have in me, I'm so sorry." He pulled back just enough to look at her tear stained face. He reached up and wiped her tears off her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. "I'm sorry for making you think I would leave and for making you cry," he whispered as he wiped the last tear away.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile and she responded with a crooked smile then replied, "It's not your fault, it's—"

"It's Sam's fault," he replied quickly.

"You're really going to blame me for this?"

Freddie turned his head so he could look at the blonde as he held onto Carly. "Yes. You set me up to kiss me and put up the video on SplashFace just to screw with me that led to all this, then yeah, I'm putting the blame on you."

Carly lowered her head for a moment to rest her forehead on his shoulder. She looked up a few moments later and towards Sam. "Tell him why you kissed him."

Freddie spoke up quickly before the blonde could respond, "I know why she kissed me: she did it to try to break me up with Cat and when it comes down to it, she's just wants to hurt me anyway she can. She wants to be my enemy, then fine. She's my enemy and I'm going to treat her as such. I'm glad we don't have to pretend that we're actually friends anymore."

Sam snorted out then replied with a hint of loathing in her voice, "Fine by me too, but I didn't kiss you to just screw with you. I had my reason."

Freddie asked in disgust, "And what would that be?"

Sam shouted, "I did it to get Cat out of the way for Carly. I was trying to help you two get back together behind Carly's back." Sam shook her head. "She didn't know what I was planning last night."

The Tech-Producer laughed out loud then replied, "As if your word is worth anything to me. I don't need to hear your chizz of an explanation."

Sam snorted out in revulsion then continued with her irritation dripping from her voice, "I don't care whether you believe me on why I did it, as long as you don't think she had anything to do with it."

"Why? Why would possibly want to do that? You hate me remember? Or is this your way of trying to absolve yourself of what you did? You finally grew a conscious for convincing me that I should break up with Carly after the taco truck accident and now you're trying to get us back together?"

"What?" Carly asked in a whisper and looked to Freddie for a moment then back to Sam. "What is he talking about?"

Freddie let out a sigh and shook his head. He glanced at Carly and she turned her focus back on the brown eye teenager in her arms. Once he had her attention, he whispered, "When we were together, Sam told me what we had wasn't real and it wouldn't last… she's the one that said saving your life was just your foreign bacon… and I was stupid enough to listen to her at the time."

Carly looked to Sam and blinked at seeing Sam's guilty looking expression.

Carly had pushed that knowledge to the back of her mind that Sam had admitted to doing that after she gotten back with Freddie from the fencing practice. The brunette had been so concern about trying to get Freddie back in the present, deal with her character flaws and keep Sam at least tolerable, she had brushed that information to the side.

Now it was coming on her full force and she couldn't ignore it anymore. She wouldn't be living this nightmare at the moment if things had turned out differently that night. The phrase 'Oh my God' ran through her mind as she thought back to that night when Freddie broke up with her and she let him walk out. Instantly her mind played out how the last year and a half could have been different if that night hadn't ended that way. They would have stayed together. The hero worship (if it really existed) would have left, but what would have remained was the same loving and caring Freddie that he had always been and she would have stayed. Freddie wouldn't have tried to date Gibby's cousin. She wouldn't have drooled over Cort, because she would have had her man. There wouldn't have been any Adam or Steven to waste her time and love on and she wouldn't have remained her shallow self for so long. They could have had the last year and a half instead of the nightmare she was going through at the moment.

The web-hostess pulled a hand from behind his neck and palmed her abdomen as she felt a sudden wave of nausea in her stomach. The brunette turned and dashed out of Freddie's arms and towards the kitchen sink as she felt the first sickness come up and tried to empty her stomach contents into the sink, but there wasn't really anything to vomit up since she hadn't eaten breakfast.

Freddie was instantly by her side trying to pull her hair out of her face as his other hand was reaching for a paper towel.

She coughed several times before she lifted her head and turned to see Freddie's concerned eyes. He held a wet paper towel up in an instant and damped away the spittle and what little vomit off of her lips. The coldness on her lips was a welcome relief.

Freddie wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand up as he finished wiping her mouth and chin off. "Okay, I got you. It's okay, I got you."

She took a labored breath and looked into his eyes. "I think I need to lie down."

He replied in a reassuring tone, "Okay, I'll take you to your room. That's not a problem. I'll get you right back in your nice cozy bed then I'll get you something to settle your stomach."

She gave him a small smile then whispered, "Okay."

He nodded then led her slowly towards the elevator.

Sam approached to help, but immediately stopped in her tracks when Carly mouthed to her, "I'll talk to you later." She frowned, but didn't say a word.

The pair entered the elevator and Freddie reached over to press the button to the second floor while holding Carly steady on her feet.

The elevator door came down leaving the blonde staring at the physical barrier that separated her from her friend and realized that her good intentions may have caught up with her.

_The road to Hell…_

* * *

><p>The door to Carly's room swung open and Freddie walked inside carrying Carly in his arms. He easily walked up the steps to her bed then gently sat her in it.<p>

Carly settled herself in a semi-sitting position using the pillows as a backrest against the headboard of the bed and let out with a relieved laugh, "You didn't have to carry me."

He replied with a laugh of his own, relieving some of his own tension, "Probably not, but I've worried for the last thirty-six hours or so and I need to do something to reassure _me_."

She gave him a slight frown and looked down at her lap. She whispered out, "I didn't mean to make you worry."

He took a seat on the edge of her bed then replied in a comforting manner, "You didn't do anything wrong, remember? Saturday was just… a bad day for all of us."

The brunette gave a slight nod. "That's one way of putting it," she replied in a defeated voice.

He replied with a laugh, "Yes it is, but we got through it together and we are both still here."

She snorted out a laugh, "We are, aren't we?"

"Yes we are…" He patted the top of one of her hands and whispered if it was a secret shared just between them, "I'm going to fix you some breakfast and then be right back, okay?"

At first she turned the hand over that he had patted as to latch on to him because a piece of her was still afraid that if he left, he wasn't coming back. He looked down at their joined hands and gave a weak smile as well as a reassuring squeeze. He looked back up and whispered, "I will be right back."

Carly could see the truthfulness in his eyes and it brushed aside her lingering doubts. She gave him a slight nod and a weak grin. She loosened her grip on his hand and allowed the comforting gesture to slip through her fingers.

They looked to one another for a few seconds more until Freddie leaned over and kissed her forehead. He then whispered, "I'll be right back."

She silently watched him get up off the edge of the bed and walk towards the door. He looked back and gave her a smile then exited her room.

Carly let out a tired breath watching the empty space where he stood then closed her eyes and relaxed against the pillows. Remnants of her dream with younger versions of she and Freddie wisped through her mind and the wish she could go back and fix things from the beginning, but that was quickly blew away as smoke from a candle would be swept aside from a strong gust of wind. In this case, the wind was a more relevant thought coming to mind: wishing she could go back just enough to be there to tell him no when he broke up with her. She would have told him how wrong he was and even if he was right, that didn't mean they had to break up.

Her best friend turned out to have been the one that had interfered in her relationship with Freddie and at the moment she didn't give a damn about how good Sam's intentions had been then or now. She snorted out as it turned out that she really was the only one that had kept up her end of the 'no secrets' pact before Freddie decided to officially wash his hands of the pact back in Los Angeles.

She's the one that now felt betrayed and alone: betrayed by Sam and alone in being unable to talk to Freddie because he was part of the 'problem' for a lack of a better term (but not the problem, he wasn't the problem in her mind).

Carly hadn't felt this alone since her mother had died and she didn't know who there was left to turn to at the moment. There was Spencer, but as much as he tried, he just wasn't that helpful and she hated thinking that way about her brother. Her father was so hard to get a hold of, so that was out as well.

She opened her eyes and glanced over and saw Freddie's phone sitting on her nightstand. She bit her bottom lip and debated for a few moments to do what she was thinking. She let out a breath and decided to reach over and pick up the pear shaped phone. She quickly scrolled through the contact list. She found the name she was looking and hit the speed dial.

The web-hostess brought the phone to her ear and waited for the call to go through. The phone rang a few times until she heard the sweet voice answer, _"Freddie?"_

Carly whispered in response, "No, it's Carly—"

"_Carly? Are you okay? Is Freddie okay?"_

She wanted to laugh at the concern that the redhead had for her, but she felt too exhausted to even laugh. "Freddie's fine. I'm just borrowing his phone. I'm… I feel horrible inside and out, but I'm alright at the moment… can we talk, please? I know you're in school, but… I think you're the only one I can really talk to right now."

There was silence at the other end of the phone for a few seconds and she thought that Cat had hung up on her, until the sweet voice replied, _"Can I call you back in ten minutes? I just need to find someplace to talk privately. Is that okay?"_

Carly closed her eyes and let a tear or two roll down her cheeks. "Yes, thank you."

"_I'll call you right back,"_ she replied cheerfully then the other end of the call ended. Carly took the phone away from her ear and leaned back onto the pillows in a semi-sitting position. She took several slow and deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves and try to prepare for her conversation with the redhead.

It wasn't five minutes later that Freddie's phone started playing the theme from Galaxy Wars. The brunette quickly answered the phone with a, "Hello?"

"_Hi Carly," _the redhead greeted cheerfully.

"Are you free to talk?"

"_Yes, Lane our Guidance Councilor is letting me use his office, so we can talk in private."_

"Oh, okay… well, I guess the first thing I need to say is that Freddie didn't try to cheat on you. He was just trying to help me get Sam to admit she liked our intern Brad, but we were wrong. She didn't like Brad, but then she just kissed Freddie out of the blue. I didn't know she was going to do that. If I did, I would have stopped her. I promise you Freddie wouldn't do anything behind your back and I wouldn't try to hurt you two like that."

Carly didn't realized as she had spoken that her breathing became shorter, but Cat noticed and responded, _"Carly, it's okay. I know he wouldn't and I know you didn't try to make it look like he did. Freddie told me you didn't. He's sorry he thought you did, he really is and you have to believe that."_

Carly looked down at her lap. "I know he does, he's… he's all torn up inside, but he's putting up a strong front."

"_He's stronger than you think."_

"Yes he is; I've underestimated him a lot over the years… too many times."

Neither girl responded to the statement: Carly out of shame and Cat out of not wanting to hurt the brunette by piling on.

Cat finally asked, _"Why did Sam kiss him then? Did she do it just to try to hurt us?"_

Carly sighed then replied, "Yes and no… she… she wanted to break you two up because she wants me and Freddie to have another chance. She figured…" She took a deep breath and palmed her forehead as she looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry, but I'm…I'm in love with Freddie, but I didn't tell her to do what she did. You're the first person I've told."

She said it. She finally admitted it out loud what she slowly realized over the last five weeks or so: she was in love with Freddie Benson. There was no going back now for herself or after admitting it to Cat. Now all that was left was the fallout.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. In a soft, but surprisingly comforting voice, Cat replied, _"So you finally realized it?"_

Carly snorted out and shook her head that the redhead could see the situation so clearly. The tiniest piece of her hated the singer for having such clarity. Oh how she wished she had it years ago instead of now. The brunette took another deep breath then replied, "Yes, I have finally realized it."

"_Have you told him?"_

"No… I can't. He knows I wasn't with Sam in her plan, but we are hanging on by a thread and I don't think we can survive one more hit."

"_You have to tell him."_

Carly nearly shouted over the phone, "How can I tell him? He's with you."

"_You have to be honest with him. Your friendship is not going to get back to where it needs to be unless you're honest with one another."_

"We aren't obligated to tell each other our secrets. He's made that quite clear."

"_When it is this big a thing and with your history with one another, keeping it from him is wrong."_

"What does it matter? He's with you, unless—"

Cat eagerly responded, _"I like Freddie. I like him a lot and he is a sweet boy. I don't want you to break his heart again and I don't think you want to do that either, but I'm _not_ stepping aside for you. You had your chance and I'm sorry you didn't see it earlier, but… Freddie's happiness is what is important to me and I think he can be happy with you, but… I think Freddie and I can make each other happy. So if you want his heart, well… I will be an option for him."_

Carly let out a slow breath and closed her eyes. "I'm not asking you to step aside and that's not why I called you, it's just…"

She offered in a kind voice, _"I was the only one you could talk to?"_

At first she nodded her head, but realized how silly that was since Cat couldn't see her. "Right, pretty ironic isn't it?"

She was surprised by the calmness of Cat's voice in her reply, _"Not really. We may be on opposite sides now, but I'm not your enemy Carly. I'm upset the way that you treated him over the years, but I know you two are working that out… I also know that he's happy that you two are still friends. I'm going to care about him and you're going to care about him and we'll see how things turn out."_

Carly swallowed down the uneasiness then replied, "One of us is going to lose."

She heard laughter on the other end of the phone before Cat replied, _"This isn't a competition."_

"Isn't it? Only one of us will have Freddie."

"_You don't know that. Maybe it turns out that all of us are just really better as friends and he finds someone else that will make him happy, but if you treat it as a competition then you've already lost even if you two get together. You would just be with him because he's a prize you won and that he's not with me. What's more important to you? Being with him or him being happy? I already know the answer for myself."_

Carly swallowed as she thought about the redhead's words. Carly had been jealous of others in the past that had a real shot at Freddie and it was out of possessiveness and the incident with Freddie thinking Tori was pretty was one of the clearest illustrations of her feelings. _She had actually hit him and cheered afterwards._ However, things had changed and she wanted him for him, not because someone else wanted him.

The curiosity got the better of the brunette and she asked, "What's your answer?"

The sound in Cat's voice made the brunette think that she was just playing with her with the answer, _"That would be telling."_

"I guess so… so… where do we go from here?"

"_Well, if you really love Freddie, you are going to tell him the truth because you owe each other that much and you two will deal with it then I'm going to be happy when you all come down next week… well, except for maybe Sam a little bit, so she shouldn't expect as much of a warm welcome as you and Freddie."_

She shouldn't have been too surprise for that kind of reaction from them about Sam after they saw the video, but it was still troubling. On the other hand, it was a mess of Sam's own making even if she did it in a misguided way to try to help her.

"_Carly?"_ Cat's sweet voice called out pulling her back to the present.

"Yes?"

"_If you need to talk, I'll be happy to listen."  
><em>

The kindness in her other girl's voice reminded her vaguely of her mother's years ago. Any sane girl would have brushed the offer aside because it was from the 'competition' and just some ploy, but she didn't believe that was Cat's intention. Cat was offering her hand in friendship and she was not going to slap it away even if the situation suggested she do otherwise.

"Thank you, I'll remember if I need to talk to someone."

"_Okay, please get better and I hope to see you soon."_

Carly smiled and whispered out, "Thank you Cat."

"_You're welcome Carly. I'll see you soon and we'll make red velvet cupcakes to celebrate."_

Carly grinned. "They're my favorite."

"_They're mine too,"_ Cat laughed. _"I'll talk to you later, I got to go."_

"Bye Cat," Carly bid farewell with a new sense of peace as the call ended. She cradled the phone in her lap and let out a relieved breath with a small smile playing on her lips.

She heard Freddie's voice call out from the door, "Who were you talking to?"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Carly turned her head to see Freddie standing at the door wearing a curious look in his face and holding a tray filled with presumably her breakfast, but the serving amount of each item seemed to be a little much for just her: cereal, toast, some eggs and some fruit and two glasses of orange juice.

She looked down at her lap, desperately avoiding his eyes and whispered with a hint of fear, "I was talking to Cat."

Freddie blinked and looked hesitant at the brunette. In a slow and timid voice he asked, "You were talking to Cat?"

She looked up then nodded slowly. She cleared her throat and tried to reply casually and thought she was succeeding, "Yes, I needed to talk to her… make sure that she knew the truth. I needed to make sure she knew what really happened."

"Okay…" he whispered and nodded towards her unsure how else to respond. He approached the bed and carefully took the few steps as to have a seat on the edge of the bed and set the tray of food just in front of Carly.

She looked up and met his eyes with a bashful look. "I couldn't let her think the worst. I didn't want to leave her even with doubts."

Freddie nodded with a thankful smile.

She glanced at one of the pieces of toast and hesitantly picked it up to start nibbling on it. Her stomach had settled for the most part with her conversation with Cat, but she was going to start slow with the dry toast before digging into the breakfast that was looking more appetizing by the second.

Freddie cleared his throat then asked, "Did you tell her why Sam says she kissed me?"

Carly shut her mouth shut for a moment to prevent it from speaking without her thinking through with what she wanted to say. She wasn't ready to tell him the entire conversation with Cat. She couldn't follow the redhead's advice and just tell him the truth. All Carly could do was nod and finish swallowing the piece of toast. She reached over and took a quick sip from one of the glasses of orange juice to wash it down to give her time to think how much of the truth she could tell him. She realized the less she said, the better, "Yes and she understands… I'm kind of shocked."

Freddie smiled warmly. "She realizes how far our past goes… and appreciates the gravity of what that means."

Carly sat her toast and orange juice back on the breakfast tray and whispered thoughtfully, "Yes she does."

He cleared his throat and timidly asked, "So is everything cool? I mean between you and Cat."

She looked back to him and gave a comforting nod. "Yes, we're good. She's looking forward to seeing us next week or so. After we get to L.A., Cat said to celebrate we are going to bake some red velvet cupcakes."

Freddie let out a relieved breath, "Both your favorite. Do you think either one of you will share with the rest of us?"

Carly let out a tension relieved laugh and shook her head. "Probably not."

The Tech-Producer joined her in the relief laughter. Once their laughter calmed down, Freddie spoke, "I'm glad everything is good between you two, I didn't… our lives are complicated enough already and I really didn't want anything else to get messed up. I don't want there to be any problems between you two. I don't want my friends to fight or be on opposite sides of one another… I'm being a little selfish in that, but that is just how I feel."

_Opposite sides_, when through Carly's mind in a flash, but she kept quiet. She gave him a half smile and replied, "We're fine and I owe you at least that much to make sure you don't have to be caught in the middle between me and your other friends." _Would I win that competition if it was a choice?_

Freddie shook his head. "You don't owe me anything Carly, especially after Saturday night."

Carly reached over and grasped his right wrist. She pleaded with him with her eyes. "It's not your fault."

He gave her a half-hearted smile as he asked, "Isn't?"

Carly let out a tired breath. "Why do you think it is now? You told Sam it was her fault."

Freddie swallowed and palmed his forehead for a moment. He let out a breath and looked up to meet her eyes. His voice was laced with weariness as he answered, "I did that to get her off my back. Any weakness I show to her or any guilt and she'll put a knife in me and I think she's made me bleed enough, figuratively and _literally_."

Carly frowned and looked down in her lap as she cradled the pear shaped phone. She kept her eyes on the phone, unable to meet his eyes as she spoke, "Has it really come down to that? Fighting it as a war? She's your friend?"

Freddie closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked up a moment later to look at the profile of her face. "You wishing it so doesn't make it so. Friends don't do what she did to me for years. If I had done half the things she did to me to her, I'd be in juvie right now and you know it. I don't care about whatever excuses she has for it: my daddy left me, my sister left me, my mother doesn't love me, I'm afraid of losing my friend or whatever other excuses you could make. I don't care about them because I'm the one at the _receiving end_. Her fists and words hurt just as much regardless of the reason. If any person did that to you, I'd make them a bloody mess on the floor."

Her shoulders felt heavy as more unintended guilt piled unto her. She looked up and stared him in the eyes. Her own weariness was replaced with firm conviction. "I haven't let her do that since L.A. and I'm still not going to let her in the future."

"She just tried to break me up with my… with Cat, so you can't stop her all the time from trying to hurt me."

"It was wrong what she did, but she didn't try to hurt you, she…" Carly let out a breath, "She was just… misguided."

He raised an eyebrow and asked cautiously, "Trying to mitigate what she did?"

Carly shook her head. "No, just not being blind to her reasons and assuming something that isn't true."

Freddie bit his tongue for a moment before replying, "Like I did Saturday…" He let out a breath and licked his lips as he felt his throat dry up. His hand slipped from Carly's grasp and he reached over and took other glass of orange juice as to wet his throat. He sat the glass back down after a few sips then continued, "I assumed what I saw that night was the truth… and that false truth was too much for me to handle. Just the thought that you could betray me… I mean… everything was going great. We were on track for us to be better than ever then Sam kissing me out of nowhere sent everything into a tailspin. The idea… the feeling of thinking you would do that to me… it hurt. One of the people that I love the most in the world would do that… it was too overwhelming to think straight and I just lashed out at you. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

Carly took a deep breath and looked back to her lap. She whispered out, "Just before I collapsed, I was trying to ask you why does it have to be this way? Why do things just keep getting in our way?"

Freddie shook his head. "Things don't keep getting in our way. We just make or failed to make choices that led us all here. That night happened because I made the wrong choice."

Carly let out a tired breath. "I really wish I could go back and change it all. If I could just go back to filming the talent show or even before then, I'd do it all differently."

"I'd be happy just for Saturday night," he replied just as defeated.

_Choices… choices are what got us here… not obstacles,_ crossed Carly's mind. It led to pain and heartache and both of them miserable. She wanted to make choices of four years ago and he wanted to make choices two days ago… but they couldn't change the past, they only had the present.

Carly tilted her head to the side and asked, "You chose to be here. Why are you here? Right here, right at this moment?"

The brown haired teenager scooted further on the bed so that his right thigh was bumping her right knee. He leaned forward and their faces were just inches apart. "You are my friend and I love you and you need me."

She took a deep breath and frowned. She whispered sadly, "But I just keep hurting you."

He countered just as sadly, "I nearly killed you two nights ago, but you haven't told me to leave."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. She whispered into his left ear, "You didn't nearly kill me and I'm not telling you to leave. I'm never telling you to leave."

He wrapped an arm around her back and asked, "Why not?"

She broke into a small smile. "Because you are my friend and I love you and you need me."

Freddie snorted out a laugh as his chin got comfortable on her left shoulder for a few moments. They held on to one another for a few seconds that stretched out to a minute or so. Freddie finally pulled back then rested his forehead on her forehead. The pair looked into each other's eyes and shared a smile.

He let out a breath that tickled Carly's nose and her top lip. "The last time we were like this… you kissed me."

She replied in a tired voice, "I remember… I'm sorry, I was… I don't know… I thought I had lost you and I didn't have any more words left." _Another partial truth_, her mind whispered.

"Oh? Okay…" he replied nervously with uncertain eyes.

"Oh?" she replied just as confused.

He cleared his throat then answered, "Yeah, I didn't know what you meant by the kiss… lost me was kind of vague for me at that moment."

Carly swallowed all her apprehension and fear. This was her opening. This was her chance to tell him the truth and maybe have her chance to hold on to him before he really was Cat's. _This is your chance, tell him, tell him the truth!_ Carly opened her mouth and answered, "It meant... that I thought I had lost you as a friend… that if I could go back to that moment in the hallway we could have had a proper friendship without all the heartbreak and heartache."

He nodded and his forehead rubbed against her forehead. He replied in a thick voice as if he was trying to cover his own feelings, "Okay… well, you haven't lost me and I think if we just survived the last two nights, nothing is going to break our friendship."

She kept her doubts from her voice as she replied, "Right, nothing is going to break us, is it?"

He pulled so he could look at her clearly. "Nope, it's not."

Her voice was so child like to Freddie's ears as she asked, "So do we forgive each other?"

He was caught off guard by the question. The words sorry had been exchanged between them, but forgiveness was one that hadn't been exchanged. A week ago he told them in L.A. that he hadn't forgiven Carly yet, that he was still working on it. They had a long history of good and bad to work through, but could he say that now? Had things changed between them in a week? In a day? In the moment in the hospital when he realized that no power of the Earth could have taken him away from Carly's side?

He took a deep breath and answered her and his own questions, "Yes… all is forgiven. We can't let the past haunt either of us anymore."

She nodded and smiled that smile he loved very much. "All is forgiven."

He nodded then turned back to the breakfast that had cooled off and picked up her toast and held it between their faces. "Now that we have established that neither is going anywhere, I think it is time that you ate young lady and got your strength back. We need you back to one hundred percent so we can enjoy that California sun this summer. It's time to focus on the good."

She cracked a smile as she took the piece of toast from him and took another bite out of it.

He grinned as he continued, "We are going to have a fantastic time this summer in L.A. Can you imagine it? iCarly, live from L.A.?" He kept his smile on his face as he picked up a sliced strawberry and popped it into his mouth. He managed to chuckle and chew the strawberry at the same time.

She thought on how truthfulness of that statement. The conclusion she reached in her mind caused her to force the best smile she could and happy reply, "Yes we are."

**Author's Note: Well, I hope you enjoyed those chapters. See you with this story on Tuesday, September 20. Don't worry, I'm just taking the time to plan out and write out the future chapters with the care and attention they need. Later, OneHorseShay.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I'd like to thank you all for your readership and reviews. I have a new chapter for you for what is the third part of this story. I was hoping to keep up with my same posting pacing, but it looks like I'll be posting one chapter at a time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think you'd prefer quality over any rush job on chapters. Enjoy reading.**

Chapter 24

Los Angeles International Air Port (LAX)

Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The trio plus Spencer made their way through of the busy airport terminal carrying their luggage and the girls pulling bags of their own behind them. Freddie was smiling as he felt the Californian sun shine on his face through the large windows as they made their way outside. Intellectually, he knew the sun was no different than it was in Seattle, but it triggered an emotional feeling of relief that he was away from all the craziness of Seattle and soon to be among friends.

He wasn't blinded by the sun, however, since he was wearing a pair of old aviator reflective sunglasses that Colonel Shay had sent him as a thank you for watching out for Carly, among other things. The Colonel had told him that they had been a present from his late wife that she had given to him just before he left for the first Gulf War and he was still an aviator. He appreciated the gesture from the Colonel more than he could say in showing that everything was good between them (and a not so subtle hint to Spencer not to place blame on Freddie for the asthma attack).

As they exited the terminal towards the pick up area, the first thing the Tech-Producer saw as he took off his sunglasses was a red velvet whoosh of hair filled his field of vision. Out of pure instinct Freddie dropped the suitcase in his left hand and the large duffle back off his right shoulder to open his arms and catch Cat as she jumped into his arms. She immediately laid a kiss on his lips that he was all too eager to return. The pair grinned and laughed into the short lived kiss as he sat her down on her feet.

Cat pulled back as she was smiling nearly ear to ear. "Hi," she greeted with a giggle in her voice.

Freddie whispered back with a grin on his own face, "Hey my Caterina."

The other three from Seattle stopped in their tracks: Carly was just behind Freddie by feet and she did her best to keep a smile on her face as she watched the open display of affection from Cat with Freddie; Sam put on no pretenses and frowned then spared a glance towards Carly to gauge her reaction. Her frown deepened as she wasn't fooled for a moment by Carly's fake smile; and Spencer just blinked as had purposely kept himself in the dark with what was going on between Freddie and Cat.

Cat stepped away from Freddie and turned to Carly. She crossed the short distance and pulled the brunette into a hug and held on as she giggled. The brunette was caught off guard and took a moment before patting the redhead on the back. Sam blinked at the reaction as well and didn't know what to make of the redhead. She wondered if the redhead didn't understand the concept that Carly was her (at least unstated as far as Sam knew) rival now for Freddie's attention and that you're not suppose to be that friendly to the competition.

The slightly shorter girl pulled back from Carly and gave her a huge grin as she greeted, "Hi?"

Carly gave her a nervous smile and nodded her head. "Hey."

"It's great to see you. You look great," she commented as she examined the slightly pale girl.

The brunette blinked then choked out, "Thanks…" She glanced at Cat up and down quickly then finished, "You look great too." _You sure like those short shorts,_ passed through Carly's mind at Cat's short jean shorts and the dark purple top with spaghetti strap. Her long red velvet hair draped over each of her bare shoulders. _Definitely trying to catch Freddie's eyes._

Cat's smile wasn't as bright, but she maintained it for the most part as she greeted the blonde, "Hi Sam."

Sam just gave a nod and slight frown.

The redhead opened her arms wide and happily stated, "Welcome to L.A.!" Standing behind Cat was the rest of the Hollywood Art students minus Trina, Robbie and Rex.

The Seattle groups started splitting up to exchange greetings with the HA students. Freddie smiled at the pair of gentlemen with Jade holding Beck's hand, "Beck, André," he greeted happily.

André grinned as he approached the Tech-Producer and offered a hand. Freddie clasped it and André embraced him in a quick one arm hug. "Good to see you man. You're looking good."

He nodded back with a smile as he replied, "Thanks, you too. I'm feeling pretty good and I'm glad I'm back." He looked towards Beck then asked, "How's it going?"

Beck snorted out a laugh and replied with his relaxed natured expression, "It's going alright. No complaints."

Freddie grinned wide as he looked to Jade. "Jade?" he questioned warmly.

Jade let go of Beck's hand and gave the brown haired teenager a quick hug. She pulled away a moment later then asked, "So you're glad to be back?"

Freddie gave a nod. "Absolutely, I can't wait to have a blast this summer."

The blue and green streaked hair girl replied with a hint of laughter, "Oh it will be. I know Cat will make sure of that."

The redhead gave an embarrassed smile as she looked to Freddie and wrapped an arm around his right arm. He returned with a playful smile then looked back to Jade to reply, "I have no doubt about that."

She raised her voice a little as she replied, "Yeah, it's just too bad you couldn't leave all the crap behind."

Carly and Sam were talking to Tori, but Jade's voice caught Sam's attention. The blonde and the pale singer's eyes met and they exchanged cold stares for a few moments.

Freddie spared a glance between the two and just waited patiently to let them play out the first round which he guessed was going to be a match that would last the entire time they were going to be in Los Angeles. The others looked on with concern that the next moment would turn into some kind of incident. Freddie smiled then replied to Jade, "Well, that's just life sometimes: you have to take the bad with the good."

Sam glared at Freddie and Carly gave a soft frown. Freddie didn't like Carly giving him a frown and what it signified, but he wasn't going to sugarcoat his feelings about Sam to keep some allusion of genuine peace between the three out of friendship. He didn't like that fact he had allowed himself to turn into somewhat of an ass because of his reactions to Sam, but he was tired of being civil and taking the side of a girl that had no problem telling him she hated him to his face on a regular basis and wanting to sabotage his relationship with Cat. He simply had no more forgiveness left to give Sam at the moment and the peace was only maintained by the fact that he would physically hurt her back if she started anything.

Freddie put on his charming smile and continued, "Speaking of good… you still owe me a dance and I'm not going back to Seattle without one."

"Dance?" Beck questioned with a raised eyebrow and rested a hand on Jade's right shoulder.

Freddie let out a laugh and gave a slight nod of his head towards Jade. "She owes me one from the prom that got rained out. And where were you again to leave her dateless on prom night?"

Beck tilted his head from side to side and replied regretfully, "I was in Canada."

Jade crossed her arms and grumbled, "Canada."

Freddie laughed, "You fled to another country?"

Beck's brow furled and he stuck his hands in his pockets. He replied with a hint of defensiveness in his usual lighthearted voice, "I didn't flee; it was a family trip."

The Seattle native playfully punched him in the shoulder. "If you would have seen her in that dress, you would have skipped out of it or I would seriously question your sanity."

Beck came back with a good natured laugh and a hand running through his hair. "I saw pictures—"

The more muscular teenager shook his head and looked to Jade with a smirk. "They don't do her justice."

Beck laughed out nervously, "Are you trying to charm my girlfriend?"

Freddie just chuckled and eyed Beck for a moment. Beck looked to Jade with a raised eyebrow, but the raven haired teenager smirked.

The Tech-Producer let the couple exchange looks as he was turning his attention to Tori who just wrapped up talking with Carly and Sam and was approaching the gathering. "Hey Tori."

Tori gave Freddie a half grin as she replied, "Hey Tori? I don't get a hug? Come on, give Tori a squeeze."

Freddie laughed and Cat let go of his arm to allow for him to open them to pull Tori into a hug. They both laughed as they patted each other on their respective backs. They pulled apart a few seconds later and Freddie commented, "You still have the prettiest cheekbones. Are you sure those are real?"

Tori laughed out, "Yes!"

Carly and Sam approached closer to the gathering of teenager and Jade immediately set her sights on Sam. The blonde caught the harsh gaze for the pale teenager and gave a cold stare in return. The others each had their own apprehensive looks towards the blonde each reflecting their concerns about the blonde.

Sam whispered out coldly, "What are you looking at?"

The pale teenager smirked as she asked in just as threatening voice, "You want an honest answer?"

Freddie's first thought was, _round two already?_

Beck's eyes widened as he wrapped an arm around Jade's shoulders. He leaned over and whispered into Jade's ear, "Be nice?"

She whispered back, "This is as nice as you're going to get from me."

Sam was about to reply when Cat spoke up, "Time to go!" She wrapped an arm around Freddie's arm and gave him a glance in hoping that he would agree.

He smiled to her then shouted to the rest, "Time to go. We don't want to spend all our afternoon in the airport."

Sam decided to remain silent as Jade smirked in triumph at the blonde.

Cat continued, "Beck will drive Carly, Spencer and Sam to their hotel, Freddie will ride with me, Tori and André. We'll all meet up later."

Carly nodded with the arrangement even if she wanted to argue with it. The idea of separating with Freddie was not appealing, but she really couldn't object.

André and Beck each grabbed a piece of Carly's luggage leaving her hands free to walk with them towards their respective vehicles. Freddie picked his luggage back up and trailed behind with Cat and Jade while Tori chatted with Spencer.

They let Sam carry her own luggage.

As they were heading for the cars with Beck and André leading, Freddie leaned over and whispered to Jade to his left, "I think Beck might be a little jealous. I guess I need to apologize to him?"

Jade grinned and shook her head. She whispered back in a conspiratorially manner when she saw Beck glance over his shoulder at the pair, "No, I don't mind him being a little jealous for a change. He sure knows how to push my buttons at times that way."

Freddie snorted out a laugh. "That might be his way of seeing how much you love him. Sometimes we guys need to be reassured that our girlfriends love us, but we have to do the same thing." He leaned over and whispered, "Just don't get me into trouble."

She laughed, "Oh no, no trouble for you." She smile slipped into a more serious look as she finished, "Don't you think you've had enough trouble?"

Freddie let out a sigh, "That's an understatement."

André glanced to his rearview mirror with a smile on his face to Freddie and Cat sitting in his back seat with Tori riding in the passenger seat. He asked, "So Freddie, glad to be back in L.A.?" It was more of a rhetorical question as he could see the smile on the brown haired teenager's face as he was paying attention to the redhead wrapped in his right arm than to André.

He replied not taking his eyes off Cat, "I couldn't be happier. No more school for a while, in the great state of California weather and great friends to be with. What more could I ask for?"

Cat bit her bottom lip then lifted her head off of his shoulder to give Freddie a kiss on his cheek.

Tori asked hesitantly, "About that? Ah… Freddie? Was it such a good idea to bring Sam along?"

The redhead and the brown eye teenager turned to meet Tori's reflection in the rearview mirror. It looked to them that asking the question pained the brunette, but they knew she wasn't asking it rhetorically or flippantly, but out of real concern.

Freddie let out a sigh. "Probably not, but she's here and that's that. Carly's going to keep Sam on a tight leash after what happened at school. It's gotten to the point where we just share Carly as a mutual friend. I made it clear to Carly before we left Seattle: I wasn't going to put up with Sam during this trip and she's not either. I'm not exactly sure how they are handling their friendship and I really don't care. I'll only get involved if Carly needs my help, because she's my friend and she knows I'll help her anyway I can."

Tori looked over her shoulder to them to ask, "So, everything is really good between you and Carly?"

Freddie nodded with a smile and replied in a lighthearted tone, "Yes, we are good and we are going to stay that way. We've both done a lot of growing up over the last month and a half and I think we're stronger than ever."

Andra laughed, "So it worked out for you two?"

Freddie's smile turned into a grin. "Yep, maybe you can write a song about it?"

"Sounds like a good idea," he laughed in return and with it, brought a lighthearted good mood in the car.

Cat snuggled her head into Freddie's shoulder and smiled as she was happy that her sweet boy had found peace with his friend.

It was a silent trip for the rest of the Seattle group in the back of Beck's convertible as they headed for their hotel. Carly and Spencer took in the sights and enjoyed the wind rushing past and the bright California sun. Carly remained silent as the tension between Jade and Sam was obvious for all to feel.

Sam obviously didn't care as she snorted out a laugh, "Wow, you can taste the awkwardness."

Jade turned in her seat and rested her arm on the top of the back rest as she looked to Sam through her sunglasses. "What did you expect? Us to welcome _you_ with open arms?"

Sam gave a slight frown and narrowed her look at the raven haired girl. "You want to start something?"

Jade snorted out, "You already started it, so I don't have any problem finishing it."

Beck glanced from the corner of his eye as he kept most of his attention on the road. "Please Jade, chill, not while I'm driving."

Carly spoke up nervously, "We're not here to cause trouble. We just want to have a good time this summer."

Jade looked to Carly with a softer gaze as she replied, "Cat and Freddie believe that with you and I believe _you_ Carls, but Sam's one big question mark after the school lock-in."

Sam narrowed her gaze onto the singer and replied with a chill tone, "You don't know what I was doing or why."

Jade turned her attention back to the blonde and wore a deep frown as she replied, "I know exactly what you were trying to do: trying to break Cat and Freddie up, but for the why? I don't care why you blonde haired bit—"

"Whoa!" Beck shouted out interrupting the teenager with the blue and green streaks in her hair. "You can't finish that statement," he continued sparing a glance at his girlfriend.

Carly and Spencer went wide eyed at Jade's near insult. Carly had only spoke with Cat once more before they flew down and all seemed at least calm at their end in regards to Sam, but she didn't realize the level of hostility that Sam had garnered from the rest of them from her actions that night.

Sam frowned and gave a cold glare at Jade. Sam pointed back and forth between them. "We're going to settle this before the summer is done."

Jade smirked as she accepted the challenge, "You right we're going to settle it… probably with a lot of pain."


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note: Hello my readers. I have another chapter for you. I hope you enjoyed the last one. To all those that noticed Nathan Kress in the audience in the last Victorious episode, I'd like to let you know I saw him too. I really wished that they had aired that episode earlier so I could have made that another weekend trip for Freddie to go down to L.A., but obviously they've reached the summer in the story at this point and I can't use it. However, I may use it somewhere else. Happy reading.**

Chapter 25

Valentine Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Freddie sat his suitcase, duffle bag and book bag down just inside the guest room and let out a breath. He took a few steps further in the room he had never stepped foot inside before, but being back in this house was a welcome relief and refuge from all the heartache and mess of Seattle. He had only stayed in the house for two nights, but those two nights had left an impression on him: that life could be wonderful and joyful and not filled completely with misery. The room was minimally furnished with a bed and a dresser, but he really didn't pay it much mind in knowing he really only needed the bed as he was not going to spend the majority of his time in this room.

A soft voice called out behind him, "I'm glad you're back."

He turned around to face the smiling redhead standing at the entryway of the bedroom. He shook his head slightly knowing that video chats couldn't compare to seeing her in person. The video didn't catch the life of her eyes or capture the sweetness in her voice or the cuteness of her dimples. _You still don't understood what you could do with those legs and short shorts?_ a passing thought crossed his mind. He didn't think words could really described how much he was glad to be back, but he tried for simplicity and hoped his sincerity would carry in his voice, "I'm glad to be back too."

Cat snorted out a laugh as she playfully wrung her hands. She gave him a bashful smile and opened her arms and Freddie was glad to oblige in walking towards her and pulling her into a hug. He closed his eyes and just took the moment to feel her presence in his arms, smell her scent, and the softness of her hair against his cheek.

Cat held on to him tight as she could feel the built up tension in his shoulders and around his neck. "How are you my Fredward? I've… I've been worried."

He whispered out, "I feel like I could collapse. Can I finally stop and enjoy the moment?"

Cat closed her eyes and stroked the back of his head with her right hand in the hopes that he really would relaxed. A week and a half he had stayed strong like she told him he had to be after what happened at Ridgeway with the only people to support him were more than a thousand miles away. She whispered calmly, "Yes. You can stop now Freddie." She pulled back and waited for him to open his eyes to look at her. The two pair of brown eyes met and she smiled warmly. He returned with a relieved smile. She took one of his hands resting on the small of her back and started leading him out of the guest room.

A few moments later they were up the stares and outside of Cat's room. The redhead quickly opened the door and led him inside. Freddie let out a soft laugh at looking at the interior of her room with her by his side. This was the room he missed with its childlike wonder and innocence. There were no mixed feelings or memories in this room… only peace.

She didn't give him long to contemplate the meaning of being back as she led him to the bed to have a seat. He held back a laugh as the memories of being in that bed came to the forefront of his mind. They had never gone too far, but the companionship was enough for the both of them.

He lay down and stared at the ceiling then let out a breath hoping to expel all the anxiety he had carried. She cuddled up to him and rested her head on his right shoulder. Her fingers danced across his chest playfully which brought a soft laugh from his lips. "So everything really is fine between you and Carly? I know you said it was over the phone, but…"

He closed his eyes enjoying the sensation of her fingers even through the material of his shirt, "Yes, we're good. We really are friends again and all is forgiven between us. We're whole again."

The peace he had found brought a smile to her face. "That's wonderful. I couldn't be happier for you… ah, was their anything else?"

He turned his head slightly to look at her and arced an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

She asked playfully, "Yeah, I mean… is everything out in the open? You don't have to be guarded with anything? You can be honest about what you think?"

"Yep, no more tip toeing worried that we are going to say something wrong or derail us. She understands how I feel about you, her… Sam and she lets me know what she thinks. She's not thrilled about what Sam did and what happened in the past, but at least everyone is honest with one another. I know they will work out their issues, but… it may be a lost cause between me and Sam."

She tried her best to ask the question delicately, but she felt it came out more playfully than intended, "So you know how Carly feels?"

He smiled and wrapped his right arm around her tighter as he whispered, "She's my friend and she loves me as such. She told me back in the hospital she wish she had told me that more often. Love got us through all the mess and back on our feet, but it was exhausting. Would you mind if I just slept the entire first week away?"

"A little, but I get to use you as a teddy bear some of those days," she giggled, but she felt it wasn't completely genuine.

"Deal," he laughed back, but Freddie apparently didn't notice any difference in her laugh as he smiled back then closed his eyes and rested his cheek on her forehead. She lifted her head only for a moment to give him a quick peck on his lips to seal the deal then relax back into their shared comfortable position.

Cat hid her frown as she realized that Carly didn't tell him she loved him. She felt the tiniest hint of annoyance with the brunette at keeping that from Freddie that would only hurt him later. What made it worst was that she couldn't tell him without breaking her promise to Carly. Would she have to break a promise to protect Freddie or… protect herself? She didn't like maybe having to make that choice. Maybe she could persuade Carly to do the right thing tonight over cupcakes?

Karaoke Dokie  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Freddie didn't sleep for a week, but only a few hours (with the very attractive redhead as a sleeping companion) as André and Beck with Robbie and Rex tagging along had decided that they would take Freddie out on a guy's night out to celebrate his return. He didn't argue because he really didn't have any male friends in Seattle he could really count on to just hang and Cat did want to celebrate with Carly for a girls' night in minus Sam of course. He was glad that Cat assured him that it would only be Carly with her because he wouldn't have let Sam be in the same room with her without him. He didn't trust the blonde not to pull something on Cat and if she did… maybe he'd have to break a tennis racket over the blonde's head to keep her in line.

That is how he found himself with them getting a table in the odd karaoke place, Karaoke Dokie. They had told him on the way over that they had great food and sometimes good singers. A waitress quickly came and returned with their drinks and went off to place their orders.

As the group sat around the table sipping on their drinks and listening to a particularly well performing girl, Robbie asked nervously, "So where is Jade? I don't see her spending the night making cupcakes with Cat and Carly."

Beck pointed out by raising his glass, "You'd be surprised, but she said she's going to baby-sit Sam."

André cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Baby-sit Sam?"

Freddie glanced at his glass as he was curious as to the answer, but didn't want to outwardly show his curiosity.

Beck looked to Freddie. "She doesn't trust Sam. She thinks Sam'll pull something else and doesn't really want to keep the girl out of her sight. So they're out to the movies." He gave Freddie a guarded look for a moment before continuing, "I'm not entirely sure why she cares so much."

Freddie smirked as he replied playfully, "You've been dating the girl for three years and you don't know why your girlfriend would care about something? That's something you need to talk to her about then."

"You're giving me dating advice?"

Freddie let out a breath and kept the smirk on his face as he replied, "No, just pointing out the obvious: you want to know something about your girlfriend then just ask her."

Beck chuckled at the slight verbal match. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

Freddie laughed in response. "Sometimes we are blind to the obvious." He took a quick sip of his drink then continued, "Anyway, I trust Sam to be Sam… even though I'm not exactly sure what that means anymore, so Jade is right about keeping her guard up. I'm not even going to let Sam stay in the same room with Cat by herself."

The three L.A. inhabitants traded looks of concern about Freddie's feelings towards Sam. Beck took a sip from his drink then asked hesitantly, "Freddie… I know it's none of our business, but… about Sam—"

André spoke up quickly, "What's the deal with Sam?"

Beck rolled his eyes as all subtlety was lost from André's outburst of a question.

Freddie let out a sigh, "I really don't know. It use to be just hatred of me, but now she's justifying her actions as if she's morally right in doing it. It makes me more concern with her being here. Giving up is not in Sam's nature. 'Mama plays to win' as she likes to brag."

The African-American teenager raised an eyebrow in concern and asked, "Then why did you let her come?"

"She was already accepted to the workshop and were did sell ourselves as a package deal. Frankly, my opinion that she can go straight to Hell still holds after what happened that night at Ridgeway."

Beck raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think that's a little harsh?"

Freddie snorted out and raised his glass for a moment. "After four years of all the chizz I've put up with her, trying to sabotage my relationship with Cat and what happened with Carly? She's lucky I just didn't beat her into the ground then told her to go to Hell. How patient would you be if someone was purposely trying to sabotage your relationship with Jade?" He then took a quick sip of his drink.

Beck raised an eyebrow and brought his glass up to his lips at what he thought was the irony of the statement coming from him. Some things were not adding up to the long haired teenager and he would have to discuss it with Jade. They couldn't possibly be flirting with one another during all the other stuff that was happening with Freddie, but… he rarely had seen her that concern with other people other than Cat… which would actually explain Jade's behavior in hindsight. But a dance?

He didn't contemplate too much further as André spoke up, "I don't understand something: How's she justifying anything and why'd she kiss you?"

Freddie let out a tired breath then replied, "I can only tell you what she claims. Your guess is as good as mine about if she's being truthful. She wanted to get Cat to… 'break up' with me. She's was hoping that would leave the way for Carly and me to get back together,"

"That's…" Beck replied hesitantly.

André raised his eyebrows and replied quickly, "Janked up."

Rex spoke up and Robbie moved Rex's left hand to gesture towards Freddie, "That is just a girl watching her friend's back as janked up as it is. What's the difference between that and you being a wingman for one of your buddies?"

Freddie raised a questioning eyebrow in having a serious conversation with the puppet, but he thought he'd humor Robbie for a little bit, "Because you don't try to break up another couple so you can get with the one you want."

"All's fair in love and war," he countered confidently.

"And that's why you are never going to find another nice puppet to ever be with," Freddie countered with a smirk.

Rex's jaw dropped and was about to reply when the waitress finally brought their food to them. Freddie quickly tried their buffalo nuggets as André had suggested.

Freddie noticed that Robbie remained particularly quiet as he ate and Rex kept glancing around eyeing any pretty girl that passed the table. Surprisingly, they did pay attention to the ventriloquist dummy before glancing at the other guys except for Robbie.

The Tech-Producer asked with a concerned laced voice, "What's wrong Robbie?"

Robbie looked up from his food to Freddie, but before he could reply, Rex spoke up, "Oh just ignore him. He's all moody and jealous that you're dating Cat."

The curly haired teenager looked to the ventriloquist dummy and shouted in outrage, "Rex!" He then looked to Freddie with a nervous expression and a shrug of his shoulders.

"What?" Freddie asked slowly and tilted his head slightly down to look at the performer. He doubted that he had just heard the puppet correctly.

André and Beck exchanged curious looks at Rex's confession. The songsmith blew out a breath and took a sip of his own drink because he wanted to stay out of what apparently was about to go down. Beck looked back and forth between the pair not really sure what or if he should do anything.

Rex moved his head in an exaggerated manner. "I said Robbie is jealous that you are dating Cat because he has a thing for her. He's still all crabby that she went to the prom with you instead of him."

Robbie laughed out nervously, "I do not."

Freddie set his jaw tight for a moment then whispered, "Seriously Robbie? You're using the puppet to tell me I have to worry about you? Let's get something straight right now between us: don't you dare try anything. I've had enough chizz from Sam and I'm past my limit."

"Rex is lying," the curly haired teenager panicky spoke out.

Rex's head moved up and down. "I am offended that you would call me a liar. You wouldn't have asked her to the prom in the first place if it wasn't true and you wouldn't have been bugged all night that you were seeing her by herself and kept to the story that Freddie would show up. Hello, we thought she was lying that he was coming."

"Rex stop!"

Freddie's frown deepened and he pointed a finger at Robbie. "He's a puppet that you are controlling. They humor you because you're their friends, but I'm not going to with my relationship with Cat on the line. So you swallow your jealousy and leave us alone with it."

"I am not a puppet and I'm controlling me," the dummy replied. Rex looked to Robbie and continued with a hint of jest in his voice, "You better listen to him and get that silly redhead out of your head. Have you seen his arms? He looks like he could break you in half. Besides, you should be manning up and going for Tori… or help me go out with Tori."

Freddie palmed his forehead for a moment then looked to the other two of the group. He motioned a hand to the performer and his dummy as he commented, "He's having an argument with himself."

They hid their respective laughs as they knew it was the truth, but didn't want to hurt Robbie's feelings. Cat was right: it wasn't just a puppet to Robbie.

Rex countered harshly, "No he is not."

He looked Robbie straight in the eyes and replied with a hint of irritation in his voice, "I can see your neck muscles move when you are having Rex talk. Follow your right hand's advice and look somewhere else and off my girl."

André laughed in what he hoped was a supportive manner, "So she's finally your girl? You're not playing all cool anymore? Good for you man."

Freddie shook his head and let out a breath, "Thanks man… now I just need to tell her."


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. Thanks for the reviews and your readership once again. I hope you enjoy.**

**Tron- Freddie/Tori? It might be an interesting story to write sometime down the line once my other stories are complete, however I can not make any promises. The reason from dropping from two to one chapter an update is a combination of the amount of time available I have to write and trying to prevent burnout. The last thing I would want to do is have the quality of the story drop as a price for longer updates.**

**Urias- Yes, the puppet is actually the puppet master behind this whole story. He gets his shot at Carly and gets Cat out of the way in having not to deal with her if Robbie gets with her. :) Also, I forgot to mention in the last update, I did see Nathan Kress in the last Victorious and according to Lane on theSlap that is Freddie sitting with him. I wish they would have aired that episode earlier so I could have wrote another weekend trip for Freddie, but there might be that episode happening in another story.**

Chapter 26

Premiere Theater  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Wednesday, June 29, 2011

_Behave_.

The thought echoed through Sam's head throughout the day even as she was exited the restroom stall to wash her hands from the restroom of the movie theater she and Jade had gone to spend the evening. As she pumped some soap in her hands from the dispenser and began washing them, the annoyance of the statement grated on her nerves.

_Behave._

That was Carly's instruction to Sam before they even left Seattle.

Carly had instructed her as if she was a petulant child to behave before going on a family trip.

Carly hadn't spoken to her about what happened during the lock-in and that weekend. The closest she had in addressing Sam's role in what happened was warning her not to do anything to antagonize Cat and the rest of them in L.A. None of them were particularly happy with her coming down with Freddie and her and from Freddie's attitude after speaking with them between the last day of school and when the iCarly trio and Spencer left Seattle, no one was going to put up with any of the blonde's attempt to disrupt their summer. Any goodwill and friendship that was created among them that night at Kenan's house during the party had vanished with her actions during the lock-in.

They had drawn a line that Sam was not to cross.

She didn't give a damn about their line or them at this point either. They were just obstacles and an unneeded distraction for Carly to get back with Freddie. Freddie may not have been Sam's favorite person (but was warming up to him since he finally found his spine), but Carly loved him and wanted him, so the blonde would swallow down her own preferences and do what she had to do to make it happen.

Taking all that into account, Sam didn't understand why she even agreed to go to the movies with the gothic looking teenager. She let Carly convince her to go as a gesture that they were here to just have a good time and really be friends and maintain the bonds they had formed weeks ago as she stayed with Cat for the evening. She thought it was a naïve position to hold that they could somehow be friends, but she didn't put up too much of a fight in trying to convince the brunette in not going with Jade. The idea of Carly spending the evening with Cat did not sit well with the blonde as it felt like she was fraternizing with the enemy.

_Didn't Carly realize that Cat was the competition if she wanted Freddie back as only hers? She's the enemy. You don't make nice with the enemy._

The only decent thing turning out for this evening that Sam would admit was that Jade had good taste in movies: a good violent and scary movie was the best way to start off the night as far as Sam was concern. However, the pale teenager had watched her like a predator for most of the night. It pricked at her that maybe in another life she could have gotten along with the raven and blue streaked hair teenager, but that wasn't going to happen in this universe.

The dirty blonde was so distracted with her thoughts and washing her hands that she didn't initially hear Jade step inside the restroom. The raven haired teenager shut the door behind her then slide the trashcan sitting beside the exit under the door handle.

The noise of the scrapping trashcan caught Sam's attention and she looked up from sink and turned her head to see Jade staring back at her with harsh glare. The dirty blonde held the look as she walked over to the paper towel dispenser and grabbed a few to dry her hands off. She quickly dried her hands then wadded the used paper and threw it on the sink countertop.

The two teenagers held their stares for a moment. Sam took a breath then asked in a guarded tone, "You want to have it out right here, right now?"

Jade chuckled as she responded, "No, we're just going to have a friendly conversation. You can have one of those, right little doggie?"

Sam narrowed her eyes on the pale teenager and frowned as she let a little growl from her throat.

Jade grinned then replied in a tone that showed her happiness with getting under the girl's skin, "You're not use to someone giving it back to you, are you?" She thought for a moment that this was going to be more fun than getting under Tori's skin. She didn't consider Sam a fellow Alpha Female to respect.

Sam smirked and raised an eyebrow as she replied, "They're just smart enough to keep their stupid opinions to themselves and not piss me off. I can show you why they're afraid."

She did something Sam didn't expect: she laughed. It wasn't a short giggle, but an out and out loud laugh. Sam frowned and her brow furled as she was perplexed with her laughter.

Once Jade calmed down somewhat from her laughter, she replied, "Of what? You? This is L.A. with a million girls just like you: a mother that is a bed hopping whore so she can pay the bills and a father that abandoned you and supposedly no one really loves you, blah, blah, blah. We'll just ignore the fact that you mooch off of the Shays for food and a roof over your head." Jade snorted out a laugh then continued, "It's a story that people have heard a thousand times over. You think that gives you a license to act like a bitch and no one call you out on it because people will feel sorry for you or you'll just hit them."

Sam clenched her fists as she glared at her pale opponent. She had to resist the urge to charge her and rip those blue and green streaks out of her hair.

Jade held on to her grin as she replied, "I've done my research."

The blonde growled out, "So you know what I'm capable of then?"

"Yes… picking on people that won't or can't fight back." Jade raised her hands to shake them and grin, "Uhhh, you're real scary. You ran away from a girl in a Halloween Nixon mask and a fake toy ax."

Sam's frown deepened as Jade was seriously starting to t-her off.

Jade chuckled as she dropped her hands and replied, "The police report was quite thorough. I can't believe you admitted to that little tidbit. Gibby had to save you? Really?"

The blonde outright growled, "Enough of your yammering, we should go ahead and go at it and get it out of the way."

Jade cocked an eyebrow and raised a finger then replied, "We could, but then I'd have to show you the meaning of real pain right now and we couldn't have our talk."

Sam took a step forward and Jade matched the step. The blonde web-hostess stared at the greenish/blue eyes and saw the lack of fear that she usually saw in a person's eyes when she was staring them down. It was an intriguing development: someone who would fight back… but it also annoyed her further.

Jade replied with a small, coy smile, "Take your swing, but you better hope it puts me down or they'll carry you out."

Sam shook her head in disgust. "I don't want to hear any mess for Freddie if I hurt you too bad, so a friendly conversation? Then what do you want to talk about?"

Jade smirked as she replied sarcastically, "Tell yourself whatever you have to so you can feel better about yourself. You need all the self-esteem you need with how pathetic you really are."

The dirty blonde clenched her mouth shut tight as her blood burned. She wanted nothing more to wipe that smirk off of the actress' face. However, before she could reply with anything, Jade continued, "What did I want to talk about? Simple, you're not going to pull any of your chizz while you're here. You're not going to interfere with Cat and Freddie's relationship like you did back at Ridgeway. You know, when you sent your best friend to the hospital. You're lucky Freddie didn't put you in a neighboring bed."

_Another one that would just dump it entirely all on her with no one else taking responsibility_. "You don't know what I did or why I did what I did," the Seattle native replied defensively.

Jade hummed out and shrugged a shoulder to show she really didn't care about the blonde's reasons. "You tried to make Cat think Freddie was cheating on her to break them up to leave him free for Carly to take her run at him. That kind of sums up what you did and why you did it."

Jade disregarded the cold stare the blonde was giving her as she continued, "Here's the thing: Carls had her shot and she chose to let him go. Let them deal with it and mind your own business."

"She's my best friend and it is my business. Maybe _you_ need to butt out," Sam replied confidently.

Jade nodded along as she processed what she considered dribble from the blonde. "Yeah, well… I'm not good at listening to stupid people; they annoy me too much beside the fact that since they are stupid, they say stupid stuff. It may not look like it, but Cat's my best friend. Freddie's a good guy that doesn't the chizz you put him through or what happened that night at your high school. You know what? He's my friend too, so if you're going to try to screw their lives over, it's my business and you're going to deal with me."

Sam snorted out as she looked Jade up and down. "You think you scare me you emo reject?"

She smiled in response as she answered, "Scare you? If I wanted to scare you, I'd just dress up as Nixon and swing around a toy ax. Do Republicans scare you that much?" Jade shook her head then replied, "I don't care about scaring you, but just letting you know that you will pay for whatever you try and Carly isn't going to bail you out of it. I'm not letting Dorfman's daughter get in my way."

The trouble-making Seattle native thought for a moment until she realized what she had told Carly that Monday morning after the brunette saw the video. The memory brought a confident smile to her face and she shrugged a shoulder as she replied, "It doesn't matter. Freddie doesn't love Cat, he loves Carly. She's the love of his life and she's going to win anyway. I just wanted to maybe spare Freddie and Cat the heartbreak of going through their joke of a relationship until they break up and Freddie goes back to Carly."

"Oh how selfless of you," Jade sarcastically replied with a snort of breath. "Feed that load of chizz to someone else." The pale singer took a breath and smiled. "You might be right: Cat and Freddie don't work out and he and Carly get back together, but…"

"But what?" Sam snapped back.

"They're going to figure it out all on their own and you're not going to slip any 'foreign bacon' chizz in the middle of their relationship."

Sam lost her confident smile as her past actions were thrown in her face by someone else.

"Yeah, we all know how you screwed him over last time not giving them a chance, but you are not going to do it to them. Freddie won't let you pull that on him again, Cat isn't going to fall for anything you do and the rest of us will stop you. But please, go ahead and try. It might be entertaining."

Her anger had dissipated from the singer's threat and replaced with that rarely felt emotion of true regret, "You never did what you thought was right, but it turned around and blew up in your face? You wouldn't take the chance to fix that mistake if you had another shot at it and damn how wrong methods could be?"

Jade's own righteous indignation faded at the brief moment of honesty from the blonde. She couldn't help but think back on when she and Tori got the dog for Beck, but the animal mauled his father a little bit. It was a silly little scheme to try to get Beck to accept her back and it blew up in her face, but she did get back with Beck. She held her tongue as the blonde continued, "Yeah, I know I janked over my best friend and I should have kept my mouth shut now, but I don't give a damn whether you think I'm a gank or a bitch or the villain or whatever the Hell you think I am in trying to fix what I should have never broken."

The dark headed girl shook her head slightly. "So this is really about you, not Carly? You can tell yourself that you're doing it or whatever you're planning to do to help her get Freddie back, but it is really about you fixing _your_ screw up. Even when you're trying to think about others, you're still thinking about yourself."

Sam nodded in agreement then whispered, "Maybe, but at least Carly will be happy with Freddie. It's the least I can do for my best friend."

Jade hated to admit it, but she found a hint of admiration for the girl in being so loyal to her friend. Maybe if things weren't playing out how they were at the moment, they could have been friends, but Jade didn't have time for 'what ifs'. She cocked her head to the side as she replied, "As much trouble as you've cause… Carly's still lucky to have you to count on, so that's something, but…"

Sam asked in a curt tone, "But what?"

"The best thing you can do to help Carly is _nothing_. I'm probably not the best in trusting my friends to make the best decisions, but that's really the only thing you should do: trust Carly and let things play out if you want any of this to come out in any good way, that's what you'll have to do."

The blonde trouble maker let out a slow breath as she looked to Jade staring back at her as if she was a puzzle instead of prey.

Jade whispered out sadly, "You want redemption? Or do you want your friend to be happy? You might only get one. Think about that… and the fact that I'll make you sad for a long time if you try to hurt my friends." She frowned and continued in a colder tone, "If it is a choice between Cat and your redemption then to Hell with your redemption. I have my friend to watch out for too." She held her stare for a few brief moments at the blonde then turned and headed to the door. She slid the trashcan aside and opened the door to exit and as she was doing so, she called out, "Hurry up before I leave your behind."

Sam stared at the closing restroom door and clenched her jaw tight. The dark headed teenager may not have scared her, but she might have a point.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I hope you all have a happy Thursday. I have a chapter I hope you enjoy. Cupcakes!**

Chapter 27

Valentine Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<p>

Carly sat on one side of the kitchen island a little nervous as she watched the redhead going about gathering utensils, cupcake baking pan and ingredients from cabinets and the refrigerator and rushing back to sit the items in the center of the island. It was almost comical watching her speed between the refrigerator, cabinet and drawers in no particular order as if she was remembering what she needed without care that it would be easier to gather all of what she needed from a particular place before going on to the next.

Both girls were in sleepwear, Carly in her V-neck orange T-shirt and flannel pajama pants and Cat in a grey scoop-neck athletic tank top and short yellow sport shorts, and the brunette half expected that she would spend the night over at the happy redhead's house. She wasn't sure how comfortable she would be with that with leaving Sam by herself and Freddie spending the night anyway since he was staying here during the workshop (even if he was in another room), but Cat had been so accommodating she wasn't sure she could refuse any offer from the redhead.

Cat wore a big grin as she set the large metal bowl between them as she stood on the other side of the island. "We are going to make cupcakes!"

The brunette let out a relieved laugh, "You were serious?"

The redhead gave a slight frown and her eyebrows furled as she looked at the brunette. She responded hesitantly and with a hint of sadness, "Of course I was serious. You don't want to make cupcakes?"

"No it just… never mind, I would love to make cupcakes," she replied with a playful snort and shake of her head.

Cat instantly brightened up and clapped, "K-kay!"

Carly rested her forearms on the counter and leaned forward then asked, "What kind of cupcakes are we making?"

Cat laughed out, "Red Velvet, just like I said."

The Seattle native gave a bright smile in response to the answer. "I'll set the oven," Carly offered as got up from the stool. "What do you set the oven on?"

"Three-fifty!" she called out as she poured sugar then some butter into the bowl.

Carly quickly set the oven on bake and the correct temperature and returned to the other side of the island. "So what can I do?"

"Could you start greasing the pan?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure, but you're not going to hog all of the mixing," the brunette replied with a laugh then started on her task.

"Okay," she replied quickly then put a bright smile on her face enjoying stirring the batter as she glanced towards Carly started greasing the cupcake pan. Cat noticed a minute or so that the brunette appeared to be somewhere else in her mind as she was preparing the pan.

She asked in a quiet tone afraid of disturbing the brunette, "What's wrong?"

Carly looked up and towards her baking companion. She shook her head slightly then replied, "Oh? It's nothing…"

Cat held her stare as she slowed down folding the butter and sugar together.

The web-hostess let out a sigh from the compassionate look then replied, "Every time I make cupcakes I think of my mother… it's one of the things I remember the most about her. She was very good at making them. That's partially where I got the nickname and I like making them too,"

"Where is your mom?"

It was a strange question, but the innocence of the tone Cat asked struck an odd cord with her. "She died," she replied then shrugged a shoulder and a soft frown. "When I was seven… leukemia."

"I'm sorry," the singer/actress whispered out.

Carly studied the girl for a brief moment and realized that the redhead looked like she was going to cry. She blinked at the response and quickly reassured her, "It's okay… I'm okay. It's just something I hold on to about her. I made peace with her not being here a long time ago."

Cat sniffled before she could form any tears and nodded her head. She took a breath and gave the brunette a smile. "Okay… do you want to do some mixing?"

The brunette returned with a small smile. "Yes."

Cat called out some of the other ingredients needed to be mixed separately and the brunette quickly gathered them up. Carly started to mix some of the other ingredients in another bowl according to Cat's recipe in her head.

Cat asked in a cheerful voice, "So are you all settled in? Is your hotel nice?"

Carly looked up from her task and replied, "Yes, Sam and I have a great little room we're sharing… we just have to deal with being roommates. I guess it's practice for college."

The Hollywood Arts student giggled out confidently, "It's shouldn't be that bad. You're friends; you should be able to work out any problems then when you go to college, all the problems staying together will be worked out."

Carly resisted frowning as the statement hit too close to her feelings and situation with Freddie. They had agreed that everything was fine between them and that they were good, but she knew that wasn't entirely true. She hadn't told him the final truth and that would get in the way.

Cat commented ideally, "I hope Sam and Jade are having a good time at the movies. I'm glad Jade offered to go with her to the movies; I didn't want to leave Sam out, but I wasn't sure how much she would enjoy baking or wanting to hang out with us."

Carly wrapped her mixing of the eggs, food coloring and a few other items and leaned over to pour the mixture into the large bowl. Cat held the bowl steady as Carly poured the mixed liquid into the bowl and the brunette replied, "I was surprised by the offer; Jade doesn't like Sam and she made it quite clear when Beck drove us to the hotel."

Cat's mouth formed an 'O' before hesitantly replying, "Jade is upset with what Sam did during your lock-in. Everyone else isn't really happy that she is here either, but they will try their best not to make her feel unwelcome… except maybe Jade. I can't promise anything with her. I'm not sure why she offered to spend the evening with Sam."

Carly nodded as she re-took her seat and set the other bowl down. She wasn't that surprise with their reaction. A piece of her actually agreed with them; it was the piece that was outraged that despite Sam's claimed good intentions, still had hurt her twice: breaking up her and Freddie and her stunt at the lock-in. Freddie had been right weeks ago at the Groovy Smoothie that she would brush her problems with Sam away and refuse to deal with them and that strategy had only put off the problem for another day unresolved. She wish she could have followed his advice before they left Seattle, but she couldn't face Sam yet about what happened, not while she was still dealing with her feelings with Freddie and Cat still a huge factor in her future. She could only fight one battle at a time.

"I understand… I kind of agree with them. Sam had her reasons, but I'm not going to make excuses for her and she wouldn't like it if I did. I hope that everything can be worked out before we go home. Maybe as you said: we're friends and we can work it out." Carly shrugged a shoulder. "That's kind of why I asked Sam to go with Jade tonight. Maybe they can come to some understanding without killing each other. If they can be civil then maybe everyone else can relax a little more around Sam."

Cat gave a hesitant look as she replied, "I don't know, but I guess it's worth a shot even if Jade can be… mean."

Carly chuckled out, "So can Sam… they'll either kill each other or become best friends… and God help us in either case."

Cat joined her in laughter for a few moments then as each of the girls calmed down from their laughter, Carly asked, "Cat? Are you mad at Sam?"

She looked up from the bowl and started hesitantly, "I'm… I'm a little upset at her for making Freddie upset and leading to what he said to you out of hurt and anger that night. I just don't want her to hurt him again, but… I don't agree with her reasons, but I respect them… I can understand them."

Carly nodded at how understanding Cat could be and not just hate Sam, but at least try to offer a hand. Sam would probably slap it way, but at least it was a try at some peace. Carly didn't think on it to long as the girls turned their attention back to the batter. Once the last ingredients were mixed separately then mixed into the larger bowl, Cat was ready to start pouring the batter. Carly held the pan as the redhead poured batter into each of the twelve cups. Once that was done, Carly took the pan and took it over to place in the oven.

The redhead stood beside her and looked at the over with her for a moment. "Now we just have to wait," Cat giggled out then went over and took her seat on the stool then started kicking her legs up and down indicating her excitement.

Carly smiled to her for a moment then walked back over to her own stool on the other side of her. She gathered her courage and started, "Cat, I have to tell you something."

"Okay," Cat replied casually as if they were about to talk about the weather.

Carly took a deep breath then admitted, "I kissed Freddie that night in the hospital. He was there at my bedside when I woke up the first time after the asthma attack and from a nightmare. I ah… I hugged them and then I kissed him. I surprised him. It's not his fault."

Cat nodded in response then answered, "I know."

The taller teenager frowned and asked somewhat surprised, "You know?"

"He told me."

Carly swallowed down nervously, "He told you?"

"Yes," she replied just as casually as before which unnerved the brunette a little. "He felt he needed to let me know the truth: the whole truth about how he kissed you back as you kissed him after surviving a near death experience. I really do understand how deep your friendship goes and the feelings that are still there."

Carly was grateful for the understanding shown by the redhead, yet a little perturbed at Freddie that carried over into her voice, "He was never eager to tell me about his kisses."

Cat tilted her head to the side and gave her a questioning look as she asked, "Why should he?"

"What?"

"Why should he have to tell you? I know you're his friend, but does he have to tell you everything he does in a relationship? Did you share everything you did with Steven with him?"

Carly took a deep and quick breath. As much as she had harped on the no secrets pact before everything changing in L.A., she didn't uphold her end when she was with Steven. She doubted that Freddie really wanted to hear any of it, but she didn't "tell them everything" as she said she did when she found out the first time that Sam and Freddie kissed. She had even limited to what she had told Sam about her activities with Steven, even if they hadn't went that far. She didn't give it too much thought as another thought crossed her mind and verbalized it, "Why aren't you mad at me?"

Cat blinked and studied the brunette for a moment then whispered sadly, "Why didn't you tell him that you love him?"

Carly frowned and felt a hint of irritation at the redhead for asking. Some of that irritation slipped in her voice as she replied, "I told you… I couldn't tell him."

The shorter girl bit her bottom lip for a moment before replying, "Keeping it from him is not helping either of you."

The brunette clenched her teeth as the redhead's advice struck a cord with her, but not a positive one. She lifted a finger and pointed across the island as she snapped out a reply, "I don't need advice from you!"

Cat frowned then looked down at the island countertop.

Carly shook her head and covered her mouth with a hand. She took a deep breath then dropped her hand away from her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Cat looked up and met her eyes with a guarded expression. The redhead got up from her seat walked around the counter and before Carly realized what the redhead was doing, she was already being held in a hug by the shorter teenager. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Carly and gave her a comforting rub of her back. "The longer you keep it a secret, the harder it is to tell him… and the harder it'll be on both of you."

Carly cautiously wrapped her arms around her in return then replied, "How do I tell him? How do I tell him when we are here in L.A.?"

"You mean while I'm here?"

Carly regretfully nodded as her chin rubbed on top of Cat's shoulder.

The shorter teenager pulled out of the embrace and gave her a confused look as she asked, "Does it really matter? The truth is the truth."

"Probably, but I don't know how he'll respond. That's why I didn't tell him before we came down. I couldn't…" She looked down at her lap as she continued, "I couldn't risk what little we had left. I'm just afraid of one little misstep and it will all come crashing down. He said we were good and I want to believe that, but I know that's not that truth because of how I feel and I can't tell him."

She spoke bashfully to Carly's ears, "Do you think he'll get mad?"

Carly snapped her head up and met the soft brown eyes of the red velvet haired teenager. "Yes. You didn't see how he reacted when he thought we were just trying to mess up what he has with you. I had never seen him that angry before and… I believed him when he said we were done. I can't let him think this is just some kind of scheme to break you two up."

She shook her head as she replied, "I'll be here to tell him not to be mad. He won't make the same mistake again."

"I don't know if it'll be enough. I'm afraid Cat."

The shorter girl took a breath and met the brunette's eyes. "The truth can't break you two, a lie, but not the truth. You love him and he loves you and after everything since that first night in L.A., you two have stuck together."

Carly gave her a sad smile. "Why are you being nice to me? We're competing for the same guy. How clique?"

Cat smiled friendly and replied, "It's just the way I am… and you need someone to be nice to you. You're hurting and you need someone. I was you once and I didn't know how to talk to anyone about it."

Carly's brow furled in confusion. "But you have plenty of friends."

The Los Angeleno frowned and her eyes looked down at the counter. "Yes, but I couldn't talk to anyone."

Carly joined her in looking down to the island countertop. She whispered out, "What about Tori?"

Cat explained in a sad tone, "She was part of the problem and Jade… I wouldn't talk to Jade, so she didn't push me into talking to her. I just avoided the problem and Tori until she dragged me into the janitor's closet at school so she could apologize."

"What happened?"

"We worked it out… I almost broke her nose."

Carly's jaw dropped and her eyes widened then stuttered out her question, "Why did you do that?"

She gave a bashful smile as she replied, "She said she wouldn't blame me if I punched her in the face."

"Why?"

"She kissed my boyfriend who was her ex-boyfriend. She thought it would make me feel better."

Carly blinked and eyed the redhead cautiously.

Cat laughed out, "I'm not going to hit you silly."

"That's a relief," she sighed out then gave a short laugh which Cat joined a moment later.

The pair let the calmness of the laugher fill the room and Cat retook her seat across from the brunette. They started talking about useless, silly stuff and the upcoming workshop as they waited for the cupcakes to finish baking. It wasn't too long of a wait as before they realized it, Cat had to jump up and head for the oven. Cat grabbed her oven mitts and pulled out the tray from the oven and quickly walked over to the island. Cat grinned then bit her lower lip as she sat the red cupcake filled tray down between them. "Once they finish cooling, it will be time for the fun part: frosting!"

* * *

><p>After about twenty minutes of waiting for them to cool and frost the top of the cupcakes, Cat and Carly were up in the redhead's room enjoying their creation. The pair sat cross-legged on her bed with Cat at the front, Carly at the foot and a large plate filled with the cupcakes between them that they had just baked.<p>

Carly finished chewing one of her cupcakes, she ideally commented sadly under her breath, "I have a feeling this isn't going to end well."

Cat glanced at her cupcake in her head for a moment as thought on what she wasn't supposed to hear. In a child like manner, she asked, "Why?"

Carly looked up from her cupcake and to the redhead. Without thinking, she asked, "What?"

"What do you mean by it 'isn't going to end well'?"

The brunette swallowed nervously then replied, "Oh… ah… someone's going to get hurt and angry and resentful. This is nice, but it's not going to last."

Cat took a bite out of the cupcake in her hand and thought for a moment as she chewed. Once she swallowed the piece down, she asked, "If Freddie decided to be with you, should I be angry at him? Should I be angry at you?"

Carly tilted her head to the side as she assessed the redhead and her question. However, before she could reply, Cat continued, "I would be sad, but I want him to be happy… he's not a prize and neither are we. He doesn't look at either of us that way and I don't look at him that way. I know we've only known each other for a little while, but I don't think you want that either."

The web-hostess stared at the redhead as she started eating back on her cupcake and realized that as silly and childlike as she could act, she did have moments of clarity… she kind of reminded her of her mother in that regard… or so the story goes from her brother and father.

Cat glanced over to one of the large pillows at the head of her bed. She snorted out a laugh then replied, "Too bad we couldn't pillow fight over him."

Carly blinked at first as she didn't think she heard her right, but after a moment's thought, she realized that she heard her companion correctly. She snorted out a laugh at first that turned into a loud full laugh. She wrapped an arm around her abdomen as she let out a joyful laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed that joyfully and certainly not since the lock-in. Carly calmed herself and shook her head as she let out in a relieved breath, "If it was only that simple… he would probably enjoy watching."

Cat's jaw dropped open, but the corner of her mouth and her eyes said that she wasn't offended, but thought it was funny. She licked her lips then smirked and wiggled her eyebrows, and Carly could have sworn she heard in the tone of the other girl's voice a little seduction, "It would be _fun_." Cat grabbed another cupcake off the plate and offered it to her friend. "How about another cupcake and let tomorrow worry about itself?"

Carly smiled and brushed the thought aside and gladly accepted the offer. "Sounds good to me," she thanked then took a bite out of the red velvet cupcake from the red velvet girl.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: Hello my dear readers. I'm sorry that I've been behind in this story, but as I mentioned in another update for another story, I haven't been feeling well lately. I've bounced back and getting back on the ball. I'm going to try to get back to my normal Tuesday/Thursday schedule in updating this story next week, but no promises (I have a really busy week next week). Thank you all for your continued readership, thoughtful reviews and spreading the word about the story.**

**Also, yes, I did see Jade Gets Crushed and Robbie's little secret in regards to Cat. It may or may not have a role in a future chapter. We shall see.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 28<p>

Valentine Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Thursday, June 30, 2011

Freddie shook his head as he walked up the stairs to the second floor of the Valentine residence as it was approaching one in the morning. He couldn't believe how much trouble Robbie could get into with Rex. As the guys were finishing their meals, Rex had started up a conversation with a cute blonde at a neighboring table. The teenager had laughed and enjoyed the attention of the smooth talking puppet.

However, her boyfriend didn't appreciate the attention from ventriloquist.

It was humorous on one level watching Robbie trying to talk himself out of the situation while using Rex to get him deeper into trouble. Rex was eager to fight it out with the girl's tall and muscular boyfriend who was a football player from North Ridge High School despite the fact that Rex was barely three feet tall and couldn't actually move without Robbie's assistance (with the built in assumption that Rex was 'real'). Those facts just infuriated the football player more and he was ready to tear Robbie apart and shove Rex _into_ Robbie, but the other guy back down after realizing he might have to take on André, Beck and Freddie if he wanted to go after Robbie... plus explaining that to Robbie, Rex wasn't a puppet to the curly haired teenager and wasn't an act.

The North Ridge student sort of felt sorry for Robbie at that point and decided to just walk away, but his girlfriend did look over her shoulder and gave a wink to the pair. Rex was outraged for letting the girl go, Robbie was thankful that he wasn't pounded into the ground and Freddie did his best not to laugh at the entire situation at how much they humored Robbie about Rex.

The Tech-Producer reached the second floor and headed through the hallway to the redhead's room to check on her before he planned to head for bed. He noticed a light still on and shining through the crack of the jarred door and the soft sound of a voice he didn't recognize, but assumed it was from a video or some such thing. He quietly pushed the door open to take a quick peak into the bedroom.

Freddie blinked several times as he looked on as it was somewhat of a surreal scene for him.

He was hoping the two most important females in his life (excluding his mother) would remain civil with one another during the visit, but he didn't expect them to actually go through with the cupcake slumber party Cat wanted to have with Carly or the sight of Cat was using Carly's shoulder as a pillow as the girls had fallen asleep on the redhead's bed. It wouldn't have been an odd scene for Carly and Sam to end up that way since Sam practically lived over at the Shays since she was eight, but for these two, it was odd to the brown eye teenager. The pair had set up a laptop at the foot of the bed and apparently watching episodes of 'Cupcake Wars' at the time they had dozed off as an episode continued to play on the laptop.

An ungentlemanly thought about the pair crossed his mind and he felt a momentary bit of disgust with himself for the thought. He shook his head to dispel the hormonal driven thinking that reminded him that he was still a teenager. He went over to the foot of the bed and closed the laptop and moved it over to Cat's desk. He turned his attention back to the girls and pulled the crumpled sheet at the end of the bed up and draped it over the sleeping pair.

He went back to Cat's desk to pick up the tray of remaining untouched and crumbs of eaten cupcakes that he reasonably guessed the girls had made earlier in the evening and pigged out on while watching the video on the laptop. He didn't see any point in letting them get stale and planned to go back downstairs. He braced the tray against his hip and smirked as a more innocent thought came to his mind and he reached into his pocket with his free hand to pull out his phone. He lifted it up and took a quick snapshot of the sleeping pair.

He let himself smile as he hoped that it would be one of many happy memories to be made during this trip and that everything would turn out alright.

Valentine Residence  
>Thursday, June 30, 2011<p>

It was around nine in the morning when Carly yawned as she made her way down the stairs and scratched the back of her head. She had a pleasantly restful sleep despite how late she had stay up and a somewhat surprising discovery waking up.

She was use to waking up with Sam's feet somehow in her face whenever the pair would fall asleep watching marathons of Girly Cow or something during the weekend nights, so waking up to the bubbly, yet peaceful redhead resting her head on her shoulder was a pleasant surprise in comparison to smelly feet. However, the irony of having woke up previously beside Freddie and now Cat was not lost on her and she wasn't sure if she should laugh or kind of wig out about it.

That internal debate would have to wait as she entered the kitchen and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes as her feet made pitter-patter sounds on the linoleum kitchen floor.

"Morning," Freddie greeted the brunette with a smile as he sat on the opposite side of the kitchen island to her entering the kitchen.

Carly dropped one of her balled fists from her eyes then looked to her friend. "Morning," she replied cautiously as seeing him first thing in the morning caught her off guard. She shouldn't have been surprised since she knew all too well he was staying here for the trip, but seeing him first thing in the morning was still somewhat a bit of a shock.

"Cereal?" he offered raising his own bowl of cereal he was apparently finishing.

She nodded and replied casually as she took a seat on the other side of the kitchen island, "Yes, thank you."

"'kay…" He sat his bowl down and got off the stool to head for one of the cabinet's behind him. "Sleep well?" he asked as he pulled out a bowl from the cabinet then reached towards the top of the refrigerator for a box of cereal.

Carly raised an eyebrow as she replied, "Ah... slept fine."

Freddie snorted out with a smirk as he passed by one of the kitchen drawers to pick her up a spoon then sat the bowl and spoon in front of her and the box beside it.

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

The brown hair teenager shook his head as he retook his seat across from her. "Nothing," he replied with stifled laugh, "I'll get you some milk. Orange juice?"

"Thanks," Carly acknowledged with a hint a confusion playing on her face then poured herself some FiberNuts cereal.

He returned a few moments later with a glass of orange juice and the milk which she eagerly accepted and poured some into her bowl. She immediately started on the cereal after putting the milk down and enjoyed the familiar taste in her mouth.

They shared a smile as they turned to their respective cereals. Carly enjoyed the peaceful respite with her friend that reminded her of morning two Mondays ago of them enjoying breakfast together; however it didn't last long enough for Carly as Cat walked into the kitchen.

Cat grinned and happily spoke to Freddie as she walked behind the island and towards him, "Good morning." She gave Freddie a soft kiss on the cheek.

Freddie smiled as he replied, "Morning." He also replied with a kiss of his own on one of her cheeks that brought a laugh out of her.

Carly shoved a bit of cereal in her mouth to prevent herself from speaking or frowning as she chewed the wheat cereal. If the conflicting emotions she were feeling was anywhere near what Freddie had felt while watching her with other guys then it must have been torture for him.

The redhead turned to Carly and greeted just as happily, "Morning."

Carly swallowed the bit of cereal in her mouth then replied pleasantly, "Morning."

Cat headed over to the cabinet to get her own cereal bowl and spoon then quickly returned to have a seat next to Carly. The brunette was surprised once again by the redhead with sitting beside her instead of Freddie, but suppressed her reaction by covering it with passing the cereal to the redhead. Cat looked curiously to the brunette as she took the box and poured her own cereal while asking, "Do you know what happened to the rest of the cupcakes?"

Carly shrugged a shoulder between spoonfuls of cereal then replied, "I don't know. When I woke up they were gone."

Freddie spoke up, "I put up the cupcakes last night. I stopped by to check on you before going to bed." He tried to stifle a smirk as he continued, "I didn't want to disturb you two."

Cat giggled and commented, "She makes a nice pillow."

Carly blinked with a mix of shock and horror at the statement. She realized that was such a loaded question at their ages, especially since she wasn't Sam, but apparently Cat did not realize it.

Freddie closed his eyes and shook his head as he started laughing.

Cat's brow furled and her mouth remained an even line as she looked to Freddie, utterly perplexed on why he was laughing. "What?" she asked in sincere confusion.

He opened his eyes and tilted his head to the side as he replied, "It's just how you said it that's all. I think Sam would probably share the same opinion… but I think she uses Carly's feet instead."

Carly closed her eyes and frowned as she shook her head.

Freddie covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he tried to stifle a laugh, but broke into a full, hearty laugh anyway. "It made an adorable picture."

The brunette's eyes snapped opened to look at the teenager sitting across from her. "Picture? Please tell me you didn't take a picture," Carly stated with a hint of blush forming on her cheeks and a sinking feeling in her stomach.

The teenager let out a sigh with a big grin plastered on his face then replied, "What? It's a cute picture?"

Carly mumbled to herself for a moment before replying in a defeated tone, "Well… at least it was a shoulder and a top of a head instead of usually Sam's feet. That's always disturbing to wake up to even though I should be use to it."

A moment later, Cat and Freddie started laughing which Carly couldn't help be dragged into it with them filling the kitchen with their laughter.

Once Cat caught her breath, she asked with a bright smile, "So how was your guys' night?"

Freddie finished chewing some of the grain cereal then replied, "Oh… it was interesting."

Carly chuckled and raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Care to elaborate?" She was always eager for some good deets on just about anything and maybe put him on the spot for a moment. If he can have a little harmless fun with her, she didn't see why she couldn't do the same with him.

He grinned as he replied, "Well, it started off fine. The food's great at Karaoke Dokie and they do have some pretty good singers, so it was a relaxing time."

"Wait? How was that interesting?"

Freddie smirked as he paused with his spoon in his cereal bowl. "It was what happened when we were finishing our meal. It seemed that we were getting hit on by every girl that passed by us, except for Robbie, but Rex was really popular… that's just weird."

"That's expected," Cat replied casually as she looked down at her cereal.

They both looked to her with conflicting emotions: Freddie one of surprise and Carly looking uncomfortable.

She looked up at them with a somewhat puzzled expression. "I mean for you. You have a lot of fans remember?"

The brown haired teenager gave a soft laugh as he replied, "Right… they almost tore me apart at WebiCon. That was kind of fun in an odd way."

Carly frowned as in the back of her mind she didn't approve to the added attention he was getting from other girls. She already had problems with one girl and didn't need others trying to stake a claim.

The redhead continued in a disappointing tone, "About Rex, he likes every girl… except for me."

"That just tells me that Rex lacks taste… what am I saying? Rex doesn't have taste because it's Robbie talking and he likes…" Freddie trailed off and frowned as he thought on Robbie's confession of liking Cat through Rex. He already had enough trouble worrying about the possibility of Sam trying to sabotage his relationship without having to worry about Robbie attempt anything or worst yet them conspiring to do something together. Enemy of my enemy…

Cat blinked and gave him a slight frown as she asked, "What?"

Carly looked perplexed as well and just as curious as to the rest of that statement. Who could Robbie be interested in that would cause Freddie to just stop speaking? Could it be…?

Freddie blinked and realized that they noticed that he had trailed off and was caught up in his own thoughts for a few moments. He cleared his throat and focused on the red velvet haired teenager. "Never mind, 'Rex' was talking to a girl from North Ridge, Beck and André told me, but her boyfriend didn't appreciate it. It almost turned into a brawl, but decided that he didn't want to mess with the rest of us."

Carly let out a breath then commented, "At least it didn't end up in a fight."

Cat smirked as she asked, "So who won?" then took a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.

Freddie gave her a perplex look as he asked, "Pardon?"

She swallowed the mouthful then softly laughed as she asked, "Don't tell us you weren't keeping count of the girls flirting with you?"

Freddie gave a boyish grin to the pair. "I think I won last night by one girl. I actually beat out Beck," he finished with a laugh. "We might not want to tell Jade about the girls flirting with him… she might kill him."

Cat smirked and shook her head as she replied, "No, she wouldn't be too happy."

"Should you have just told Cat that?" Carly replied still hoping for a smidgen of payback for the picture comment.

Freddie jutted out his jaw slightly and ran his tongue inside his lower lip as he looked towards Cat who playfully smirked back at him. The brown eye boy commented glibly, "Maybe, maybe not…"

The brunette shook her head with a smirk then turned back to her cereal. She was somewhat surprised at how comfortable he was with his flirting with Cat as she knew how badly he was at it with her in the past. That thought stung at her for a moment as she realized that it was in the past and he apparently was learning from his mistakes with her or the redhead was far more understanding and patient than she had been in the past.

The trio finished their cereal with a sense of comfortable silence. Once Carly was finished, she spoke, "I need to get back to the hotel and check on Sam. I want to make sure she isn't running up the room service bill."

Cat nodded then looked to Freddie. "After you take Carly back, do you want to go out? There's still plenty of the city I haven't gotten to show you?"

Freddie nodded along with a grin and replied, "I would love that."

Carly gave a polite smile to the both of them then took over her bowl to the sink before heading back upstairs to gather her things.

About fifteen minutes later of changing and making sure she had everything Carly was at the door waiting for Freddie to change and Cat to bid her goodbye. Carly pulled her bag tighter to her shoulder as she turned away from the door and looked to the approaching redhead and her traveling companion. She smiled towards the shorter girl and commented, "Thank you for the cupcakes and the night. It was fun."

"You're welcome. I hope we can do it again before the summer's done," Cat replied genuinely happy and sincere from what Carly could tell from the shorter girl.

"Me too," the brunette replied with a nod and not as much of a force smile as she expected from herself.

Freddie regretfully interrupted the pairing's speaking as he looked to Cat, "I'll see you in about an hour?"

Cat laughed then gave him a quick cheek kiss and replied, "Okay, I'll be ready."

It took a great deal of effort on Carly's part to maintain a smile at hearing that statement. She realized that this was going to harder than she thought during this trip, especially now that she realized how kind and sweet Cat could be as a person. She could see how easy it was for Freddie to want to be with the other girl and made her feel even more regretful of her past behavior in regards to Freddie.

Cat raised a finger and shouted, "Oh, one last thing—" She dashed back to the kitchen leaving the pair perplexed for the few moments for her to come back. She held up one of the leftover cupcakes to Carly and stated, "One for the road?"

Carly smiled as she was touched by the gesture and took the cupcake from the eager redhead. "Thank you," she whispered as she looked to the shorter girl with a thankful expression.

Cat just smiled in return and gave a slight nod of her head.

The Seattle pair headed out the door and towards Freddie's rental car that he picked up just as the guys were heading out last night. They entered their respective side of the vehicle and quickly fastened their seat belts (which Carly found slightly tricky balancing her cupcake). Freddie smirked as he started the engine and spoke, "I have an idea where we could have this week's iCarly. I'll tell you on the way back to your hotel… how do you feel about a location shoot?"

Carly raised a curious eyebrow intrigued with his potential suggestion.


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's Note: Sorry this installment is so late. Real life got in the way. It looks like it will be one update a week for each story. I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter. Thank you all for your continued readership and support. I really can't thank you enough. Don't' be shy with the reviews, I read them and try to respond. **

**Also, I just saw the latest Slap video from Cat as she's answering Twitter questions. I thought it was an interesting portrayal of Cat which barely bared any resemblance to either 1st or 2nd Season interpretation of Cat since it looked to me that it was more like Ariana goofing off and barely trying to stay in character (this would have been an entirely different story with that kind of Cat, but just as interesting). Cat gave an entirely new and ridiculous answer to why she chose her red hair color (which I will ignore). I'm only mentioning the video at all because I found it interesting her response about what qualities she looks for in a boyfriend and partially relevant to the story: the fact that she starts laughing then literally says in the fit of laughter couldn't say her initial response to the question just gets the imagination running into wild speculation. Talk about getting stuff under the radar.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 29<p>

Carly and Sam's Hotel Room  
>Extended Stay America<br>6531 S. Sepulveda Blvd.  
>Los Angeles, CA 90045<p>

Freddie bid farewell quickly to Carly and barely acknowledged Sam before heading back to his rental car and heading back to the Valentine residence. His quick departure stung at the brunette, but she pushed it aside as she understood that Freddie was eager to get back and spend some long overdue time with Cat. However, understanding and liking it were entirely different things. She was loosing out to a girl that he was only physically present with for about six days. Carly shook her head to dispel the observation as she walked from the door to the bedroom area cutting through the open kitchen.

Sam paid little attention to the Tech-Producer arriving and leaving as she was snacking relaxing and propped up in her bed and watched some trashy daytime talk show. The dirty blonde asked dryly before popping a potato chip in her mouth, "So… how did you and Cat get along with your girls' night in?"

The brunette ignored the tone and replied in a somewhat cheerful voice, "We got along great and we made cupcakes… very good cupcakes. She's very good at making them."

Sam finished chewing the chip and frowned as she replied in a sarcastic voice, "So you got along great with your competition?"

Carly tilted her head to the side and admonished as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, "Sam."

The blonde sat up in her seat on the bed to look at her brunette friend. "What? It's the truth. You need to realize it or you are going to lose to her."

Carly closed her eyes and shook her head. "So how did you and Jade get along?"

Sam frowned at Carly refusing to see what was in front of her, but she didn't feel like getting in a fight with her over it at the moment. She snorted out her irritation, but replied calmly, "We didn't kill each other if that's what you are asking."

Carly gave relieved smile then replied, "Well I'm glad to hear that. So you enjoyed yourself?"

She grudgingly admitted, "You could say that: she does have great taste in movies."

The web-hostess raised an eyebrow and asked hopefully, "Anything else?"

Sam looked away from the television and to her seated friend. "We… know where the others stand. It could get messy."

Carly frowned and shook her head. "Sam, I mean it: don't you dare start something. We are here to have a great time, not for you to alienate everyone."

The notorious troublemaker growled back, "I'm not your child so stop trying to treat me as one."

The brunette frowned deeply for a moment before snapping in return, "Then stop acting like one!"

Sam sat up straight from resting her back on the probed up pillows. "I'm just looking out for you—"

"Yeah, and we all know what happened the last time you were just 'looking out for me': you broke me up with Freddie and I nearly died." Carly knew it was a cheap shot as soon as the statement left her mouth, but she was on her last nerve in trying to reason with the blonde on the matter.

The blonde was quick to point her finger at her long time friend and snap back, "You can't dump all that on me. Not with what happened at Ridgeway and not with you letting Freddie break up with you. He is right about one thing: no one could have known you could have had an attack. You allowed Freddie to break up with you. I told you that night after you went with him to his fencing practice: 'you loved him' like Adam and Steven and how you go overboard with it. I may have gotten the ball rolling, but you let it keep going with him walking right out of your relationship. Love's never been a real big concern with you when it came to relationships, so why was it so different with him? Why didn't you just stay with him regardless?"

Carly blinked and she felt the anger that had been building wisp away then replaced with regret. In barely above a whisper, she replied, "He wouldn't settle for less."

"But you're finally admitting you would?"

Carly took a sharp intake of breath. "Yes… before Freddie slapped me in the face with reality, yes I would, but things have changed… he's changed… I've changed."

Sam followed up quickly, "And that's why you have to go get him. You know for sure this time and you can't let anything get in your way and that includes this shame of a friendship you are trying to have with Cat."

Carly palmed her forehead and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She dropped her hand a moment later and looked directly into her friend's eyes. "If you are my friend and you really do care about me then you won't do anything. You won't interfere or sabotage or do anything to ruin their relationship."

"Then you do something about it. She can only beat you if you remain silent."

"I say anything and I will lose him," she replied sadly.

Sam bit her tongue for a moment as Carly's self punishment and apparent attitude about giving up on trying to get Freddie was getting on her nerves. "So you are going to let her win?"

Carly replied in a soft whisper, "It's not about winning."

The troublemaker blinked and let her mouth drop open in surprise. She finally replied somewhat dumbfounded, "Of course it's about winning. You lose, she gets Freddie. How much simpler can it get?"

Carly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and calmly asked, "What about Freddie's feelings?"

Sam snorted out, "I already know his feelings: he still loves you."

"I'm not so sure it's really all that simple anymore."

"I am," Sam replied in a stern voice.

The brunette took a deep breath then replied, "I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I'm going to go take a shower then we can go out and get some lunch, okay?"

Sam held back a growl and replied calmly, "Fine…"

Carly shook her head and was satisfied for the answer for the time being then got up off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Sam closed her eyes and let out a tired breath. She thought again on Jade's question the previous night. A moment later she opened her eyes and whispered, "Fuck redemption."

Cat's Room  
>Valentine Residence<br>Los Angeles, CA  
>Thursday, June 30, 2011<p>

The usually bubbly redhead quietly sat cross-legged on her bed as she watched her gothic looking friend standing by the desk displaying an annoyed look on her face as they were waiting in the shorter girl's room for Freddie to return from dropping Carly back at her hotel. Cat had just finished getting ready and had hoped that she had picked out a cute outfit of a spaghetti strap blue top and denim shorts.

The pale singer showed up about fifteen minutes earlier as she was curious as to last night's events between her redheaded friend and the Seattle web-hostess.

Cat was just as curious if not more concerned with what could have happened between Jade and Sam, however she would have to wait for that story as Jade was quite agitated after hearing the real situation between the redhead and web-hostess: particularly that Carly had admitted to Cat that she was in love with Freddie, but Cat wasn't that concerned about the matter. Jade had kept her still questioning trust issues with that particular Shay private and was at least in the back of her mind still concerned about the brunette taking advantage of Cat's welcoming and trustworthy nature and now they were apparently justifiable concerns.

Apparently Jade had finished processing the story and gritted her teeth as she finally responded, "She's just waiting to ambush you." The dark headed teenager started pacing about the small, mostly pink room. She crossed her arms as she looked down not to trip over anything as she walked around the room and spoke, "She is going to wait for that one moment that you and Freddie are really going to be together to spring it on him. He may not get back with her, but she'll screw him up so emotionally that he can't be with you either."

Cat kept quiet for a moment as she thought best how to respond and watched the pale singer pace. She replied softly, "I don't think she'll do that." The redhead hated that she may have violated Carly's trust by telling Jade, but even she needed to confide in someone. A part of her wondered what obligation she had to keep a secret that she wanted Carly to tell Freddie anyway and in the longer it was kept a secret the more likely it could hurt her own chances with Freddie.

Jade stopped in her tracks and snapped her head towards the redhead. She asked in a disbelieving voice, "Do you want to risk it? Do you trust her that much?"

She gave a slight nod with her head. "Yes."

Jade closed her eyes and sighed out a breath as she pulled her arms tighter over one another. A few moments later she looked at the redhead. "Cat… you can't trust her when it comes to Freddie. You just told me she loves him or at least thinks she does and she will try to get him back from you. Why hasn't she told him?"

Cat blinked and wondered why Jade would ask a question with such an obvious answer. "Because she's afraid he'll be mad at her; that she and Sam really were just trying to break us up."

Jade snorted out a breath and took a seat in the chair at Cat's desk. She leaned back in her chair and shook her head as she continued to display on her face her growing irritation about the whole situation. She whispered in a cool and deliberate voice, "Maybe he has a right to be mad at her? Maybe he has a right to be concerned? After all this time, she finally comes around to like him after he's in a relationship with you or whatever you two are calling yourselves and kick it out from under him. Did you forget what happened a week and a half ago? Did you forget what you felt when you saw that video of Sam kissing Freddie?"

Cat looked down at her lap and remained silent.

Jade took a deep breath and pushed on: "You can't run away from this like you did with the whole Danny/Tori thing. I saw how hurt you were at seeing that and that was exactly what Sam wanted to happen: hurt you and dump Freddie for cheating on—"

"Freddie wouldn't—"

Jade stood up from the chair and walked over. She tapped the shorter girl's forehead and replied sternly, "Up here you knew that, but here—" she finished pointing at Cat's heart, "it still hurt here. That's what I'm afraid of what is going to happen: you are just going to get hurt again, whether it is intentionally by Sam or just by Carly conveniently falling for Freddie."

Cat looked down to her lap. She whispered, "I trust Freddie."

"To do what?"

Cat looked up with a deep furled of her brow and a confused frown.

Jade raised an eyebrow as she gave an even expression in asking her question, "What do you trust him to do? To do right by you? By Carly? He won't be able to do both no matter how hard he tries."

Cat whispered confidently, "It's not a competition."

Jade snapped, "Of course it's a competition: one wins, one loses. One of you gets Freddie and the other doesn't."

"That's what Carly thinks," she replied with a hint of distained.

The dark haired teenager shook her head in disgust as she replied, "She's right about that."

"No she's not. I just want Freddie to be happy and if that's with Carly then—"

Jade raised a hand and pointed to the sitting girl, "No, stop right there."

Cat shut her mouth quickly.

"Win his heart or let him go. Don't waste either one of your time playing—"

"It's not a game. He's not a prize to beat her for," she interrupted in a quite a stern voice to Jade's ears.

The paler girl was caught off guard for a moment from the unexpected challenge. "No it's not…" Jade looked down and shook her head. "Love's far too serious to treat it as a joke or frivolously." She looked back up and met her friend's eyes as she spoke, "That's why you have to really let him know you're in it for real for him and yourself. I think you two have spent enough time testing the waters."

Cat raised an eyebrow as she asked curiously, "But it took you six months before being exclusive with Beck."

Jade let out an annoyed sigh as she replied, "Six months I wasted playing games. You shouldn't make the same mistake."

Cat nodded along. "Thank you Jade."

She shrugged a shoulder and whispered, "Yeah, well…"

A silence hung in the air for a few moments before the shorter girl asked hesitantly, "So did you and Sam get along last night?"

Jade rolled her eyes then admitted in a tired voice, "We didn't kill each other if that's what you are asking."

Cat replied in a somewhat relieved voice, "That's good to hear."

The dark haired teenager held back a quip to burst her bubble, but decided to reply, "Well… I don't trust her, she has… a lot of guilt and she's already shown what she'll do to get rid of it. I let her know that it would cost her if she tried anything."

Cat was about to reply when a soft knock on the slightly opened bedroom door interrupted the pair.

"Hey?" Freddie spoke with a hint of curiosity mixed with concern as he pushed open the door and remained at the threshold of the room.

The redhead and the dark headed teenager looked to Freddie standing at the door and wore an apprehensive look on his face.

He cautiously asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

Jade shook her head. "No… I just… I was telling Cat about my night with Sam."

Freddie snorted out a laugh, "Sam didn't give you too much trouble?"

The dark headed teenager smirked in return as she replied, "No, I kept her in her place."

Freddie smirked as he replied, "I didn't doubt it, but I would have loved to have seen it."

Jade allowed a smirk to form on her face as she replied in a coy tone, "I'll tell you about it later, but you two have to go."

Freddie gave a polite nod of his head and a grateful smile. "Yes we do, but that is a story and a dance you owe me?"

Jade let out a short laugh, "You are keeping score?"

The brown haired teenager snorted out and shook his head. He looked to his companion and asked, "Ready to go?"

Cat nodded eagerly and leaped off the bed to head for her desk and grab her bag.

Freddie commented, "I'll meet you downstairs."

"Okay," she replied quickly then headed out the door and towards the stairs.

Once she was out of sight, Freddie looked back to Jade still in the room and raised a hand to motion the singer over.

Jade frowned slightly and raised an eyebrow to the motion, but walked over despite her confusion.

Freddie gave her a nervous smile, "Jade? I need to ask you something."

Santa Monica Pier  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cat smiled as Freddie had his arm draped around her shoulders and the pair were walking down the pier. She was nursing a cup of cherry flavored shaved ice in her hands he had bought for her. It wasn't too hard of a guess for him as to her favorite flavor. He was spoiling her lunch (on top of the light breakfast), but he couldn't resist getting such a sweet girl such a sweet treat. Her childlike and straightforward attitude could be so refreshing and peaceful in comparison to all the normal drama of trying to date (as if he had any real experience on the matter in the first place). He considered her occasional 'What's that suppose to mean?' during their video chats as a far better alternative to 'If you can't figure it out, I'm not going to tell you'.

They were in no particular rush at the moment as they just allowed each to enjoy the other's company. She was happy this was the place to take advantage of the moments they were given due to their separation. This place was special for Cat. It was the first place that the pair had gone together after meeting at Kenan Thompson's house. She had been the focus of his attention that afternoon as he was trying to deal with his new place in life. He had gotten her giraffe that made inappropriate noises that day to go along with her other smaller giraffe at home and that always brought a smile to her face when she thought back on the memory.

They stopped at one of the vender booths and Cat took a moment to look at what were basically knickknacks. She skimmed through a row of sunglasses set up on the vender's bench as a playful smile played on her face. She let out a soft giggle when she found a particular pair. She sat her cup down for just a moment to pull the glasses off the display put on the aviator glasses then turned around to face the taller teenager. She smirked towards him, showing off her right dimple.

Freddie shook his head and covered his mouth with a hand to stifle a laugh.

She playfully asked, "What do you think?"

He dropped the hand and let her see his smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He stood on her left as he held up the phone and snapped a picture. After hearing the sound of the picture being taken, he turned to her and asked, "What do you think?" then kissed her cheek.

She covered her mouth with her hand for a moment to stifle her giggle.

He slipped his phone back in his pocket then made his way to pay for the glasses as she picked up her shaved ice cup. Once he paid for the glasses, they started back walking among the crowd with matching aviator sunglasses.

They continued to slowly walk until they reached the end of the pier. Cat finished her sweet and dropped the discarded cup in a nearby trashcan then turned back to her companion. He slipped an arm around her waist as the redhead rested her head on his shoulder and together they looked over the water of the Pacific Ocean. Others were gathered around enjoying the view of an occasionally passing boat or taking a spot to try to catch a fish.

Jade's advice weaved through the redhead's mind as she rested right arm on the wooden guardrail and allowed her left to rest on Freddie's wrapped around her waist. Her fingers dance on top of his until he allowed her fingers to lace with his fingers. The whole point of the point of Freddie being down here for the summer was to see if they could work out, but Jade was suggesting that she should go ahead and make a decision and let him know definitively that she wanted to be with him. She wasn't necessarily against the idea as she felt that they had gotten pretty close over the last several weeks even if it was only through telephone calls, text messages and video chats, but how would Freddie react?

Would that force him to either commit before he was ready or just walk away feeling that he was being manipulated to make the choice before the summer was out? How would Carly react? Would she remain silent and supportive or would she try something as Jade suggested? Would Sam try to be mean to her again and try something else? The questions were starting to upset her stomach or it was the sweetness of the shaved ice on an almost empty stomach, she couldn't decide.

Freddie casually stated, "I think we need to go on our first real date, maybe after iCarly tomorrow night?"

Cat blinked and turned her head to meet his compassionate eyes. "What?"

"A date, I think we should go on a date?"

"A real date?" She smiled trying to hold back a giggle, "I mean, just the two of us going out for an evening?"

He kissed her temple then whispered, "I think it's about time. What do you think?"

Cat giggled again as she replied, "I think so too." She wrinkled her nose as she gave a small smile. "We went to prom together before going out on a date,"

"That is pretty funny, so we really are overdue… you were beautiful that night."

She looked down to try to hide her blush. "Thank you… so what did you have in mind?"

Freddie rolled his head back and forth as he gave a nervous smile. "I thought something really fancy… I want to spoil you. I want to take you out someplace fancy and surprise you."

She shook her head, "You don't have to do that."

He leaned forward to whisper to her as he looked her in the eyes, "Over the last month and a half, we've had what? Three days? Four days together counting today? I want to do something special."

She gave him the faintest of smiles as she thought on his idea. She didn't want him to really spend a great deal on her, but she couldn't say no to him. "Okay… somewhere fancy?"

"Yep and I know just the place to take you."

She raised a curious eyebrow as she asked, "Where?"

He let out a soft laugh, "That's going to be a surprise."

"I love surprises," she laughed cheerfully, but stopped a few seconds later and gave him a slight frown. "But how will I know what to wear?"

"Jade and Tori are going to help you without giving anything away, so you don't have to worry."

"Okay, Tori will know exactly what I should wear and Jade… she always knows exactly how to dress."

Freddie snorted out a short laugh at the shorter girl's eagerness. "Okay, well since that's settled, do you want to get lunch or did I spoil it with the ice?"

"Lunch sounds like a good idea." She let go of his hand resting on her abdomen and rubbed her stomach. "I think I do need to eat something… I think that was a little too much sweets."

Freddie gave a slight frown as he replied, "I'm sorry, I guess I should have said no, but you are just too hard to resist in saying no." He dipped his head forward and caught her lips in a quick kiss then commented with a laugh, "You taste… fruity."

She laughed in response then turned in his grip to wrap her arms around the back of his neck and pull him into another kiss.


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's Note: Wow, it has been awhile since I've updated this story. I'm sorry for such a long hiatus from this story, but you know how it is with real life getting busy and other stories I've been working on. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to start back at least weekly updates with this story. Also, to go ahead and throw this out there: I am NOT going to speed write a few chapters to wrap up the story so I can say I'm done with it. I intend to take as much care in continuing writing this story as I have in the past and give an eventual proper conclusion to the story.**

**I'd also like to thank all of you that have continued to read and review this story. I do read the reviews and don't be surprised if they turn out to influence the story in some way.**

**One last thing I'd like to comment on about the concerns of some reviewers: I do not see nor write Sam as the villain of this piece. As a reader and author, I may not agree with her methods so far, but I will not fault her for her loyalty to Carly. Remember: Road, good intentions, etc. and at the moment, she has no problem walking down that road if it means Carly wins in the end.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 30<p>

Parking Lot Near Farmers' Market  
>Venice Beach<br>Friday, July 1, 2011

"I'm Carly—" the brunette shouted out wearing a two piece red swimsuit on with a swimsuit shawl around her hips.

The blonde in her own blue one piece swimsuit that looked more like a spaghetti strap summer dress with a skirt length not even down to the midway of her thigh finished with a laugh, "And I'm Sam."

Together the pair finished, "And this is iCarly!"

The pair cheered for a few moments before Carly picked up, "We're down here in L.A. for the summer with some very dear friends of ours and broadcasting from Venice Beach…"

As Carly continued her introduction and explaining some of the things they expected to perform with the ladies of Hollywood Arts stepping into frame, Rex whispered out while Robbie nodded his head, "We are all _very lucky_ men, gentlemen."

The puppet and his handler were standing behind Freddie and with André and Beck. Rex was commenting on the appearance of the ladies. The rest of the ladies other than Carly and Sam were also in various beachwear attires with Cat in her preferred short jean shorts, Tori was wearing a pair of her own denim shorts and an aqua top that allowed her midriff to be shown and Trina in a pink top that hinted at her cleavage and various patterned shorts. Jade wore a black spaghetti strap top with a visible black bikini top, a long skirt and large brimmed black hat as she wanted to avoid sun burning as she did the last time at the beach.

Freddie chuckled out as he made sure the camera was focused on the girls to record them (as the show was not actually live on the off chance that someone passing by would yell out or do something inappropriate and give Freddie a chance to edit anything out before putting it up for tonight), but preventing the microphone from picking up his words, "I'm forced to agree with Rex."

Beck covered his mouth with a hand as he kept an eye on his smiling girlfriend and André agreed with a respectful nod of his head. The songsmith commented with a grin, "You did this on purpose."

Freddie raised an eyebrow and gave a half smirk as he answered with mock offense, "Why André, do you really think I would suggest that we do iCarly here for the sole purpose of seeing all these lovely ladies in beachwear? I am offended that you would suggest that I would do such a shallow thing."

André held the back of a hand to his mouth as to prevent him from laughing and being picked up on the web-show.

Since the show was being tapped at the beach, the performers would forgo costumes for their skits and settle for hats when appropriate. So for the first skit, Cat wore her Little Bo Peep bonnet and Sam her cowboy hat as the two argued over Cat's sheep mingling with Sam's cattle while the Idiot Farm Girl and Jade as Betsy-Sue Goldenheart tried uselessly to mitigate the argument. They had a small table set in front of them with a little stuffed sheep and a large stuffed cow sitting together in front of them to represent the mingling.

Freddie had to suppress a laugh at seeing their performance with Sam acting just as tough as normal as the cowboy (without the mustache), but in her swimsuit, Carly with her hair in pigtails with her very lovely and distracting swimsuit, Jade displaying a sharp contrast from her dark clothing with her cheery disposition and Cat looking adorable and sexy at the same time. Apparently so did some of the males from Northridge hanging around as some start to shout some catcalls. Fortunately, some quick glances from André, Beck and a few other males in the audience that happened to go to Hollywood Arts as well put a quick stop to that behavior.

Freddie was a little weary of this skit, but he doubted that Sam would actually do something inappropriate, especially with Jade keeping such a close eye on them from just behind him and his camera.

In order to settle the argument, Idiot Farm Girl suggested that whoever can take a brain-freeze the longest from eating cups of shaved ice would get the pasture.

Surprisingly, Cat won the contest as she kept licking the cone of red colored ice even as she felt her 'brain freeze' as Sam had to stop to take break.

Freddie swore he heard Sam whisper under her breath as she passed him something about Cat having no brain to freeze, but he let it go as they had to set up for their next performance.

André and Tori preformed a new rendition of _Make it Shine_ that they had been playing with for a while to the cheers of some of the gathered teenagers. Freddie held back a smirk as he watched through the camera that André would pass a glance towards her and held it longer than the performance would suggest. He wasn't sure if that was how they usually performed together as his only experience was the rained out 'Promo' of them performing _My Best Friend's Brother_. Besides he was mostly too busy to really notice as he was dividing his attention at watching Cat singing and trying to keep Jade dry with his coat.

Carly started clapping and cheering as she walked into frame. "Let's hear it for Tori Vega and André Harris!"

Freddie swung the camera around to capture some of the audience to allow them to cheer on camera.

The brunette web-host smiled brightly as she began and Freddie instantly swung the camera in her direction, "We're going to have another friend of ours, Trina Vega, to sing…"

Jade was to just behind and to the right of Freddie. She leaned over and whispered to Freddie as Carly finished introducing the elder Vega sister, "I can't believe you are letting Trina sing."

Freddie smirked as he replied softly, "We're not really letting Trina sing… we let her prerecord her song so that I could put it through some audio filters before putting it on air. The only ones that can hear her really sing are the ones standing around and possibly hear her over the playback. I'm not letting her cause the audience to turn off the program because of her lack of singing talent. Someone just needs to break the news to her and tell her that she needs to stick to comedy."

The pair turned their attention back to Trina as she started singing her rendition of 'The Reason Why'. The audience may have been making faces and some covering their ears, but to the rest of the nearly one million iCarly viewers that would watch the show in about two hours, they where hearing the beautifully auto tuned voice of an angel.

Cat leaned over to whisper to Freddie at ask her question, "You don't think this is wrong?"

Freddie shrugged a shoulder, "Maybe, but we're trying to spare her feelings. We did the same thing for Ginger Fox and she's made a comeback because of it. Is anyone going to tell Trina the truth? She's your friend; isn't it one of yours responsibility to tell her?"

Jade and Cat shared a glance as they each debated the teenager's thought as Trina finished her song.

"Well, let's hear it for our friend Trina!" Carly shouted as she put on the best fake smile she could manage. Trina waved at the camera then to the crowed as Carly continued, "That wraps up this episode of iCarly. We hope to broadcast from other exciting locations this summer and treat you with more special content. Bye!" the web-hostesses waved at the camera.

Freddie swung the camera to capture some of the audience as they closed out the recording.

The impromptu audience started cheering. Carly put on an embarrassed smile and started waving at the small crowed of teenagers and young adults who turned out to be mostly other Hollywood Arts students and some others from Northridge.

Trina was ecstatic as she turned back to look at Carly and Sam. "That was great. Thank you so much for letting me sing."

Sam looked like she was going to have a momentary lapse in honesty, but Carly let out a brief laugh as she answered, "You're welcome."

The rest of the group started gathering with Carly and Sam to chat away at one another about how the show had gone while Freddie started packing up his equipment quickly as possible as time was not on his side. He needed to get to back to Cat's house to upload tonight's episode and to get ready for their date. Cat stood by him and watched in mild fascination as he took care to properly pack the equipment.

"Done," he finished with a smile and through the shoulder back onto his shoulder.

Cat smiled instantly then latched onto Freddie's hand and started dragging him through the parking lot toward his car.

Carly noticed that Freddie was leaving with Cat without saying a word and frowned, but said nothing. However, she didn't have the time to wallow in any self pity as Beck had walked up to her on the other side of her conversation with Sam and Trina and asked in a soft voice, "Hey." The brunette turned to see the taller teenager smile his charming smile at her and asked, "We didn't get a chance to mention it before the show, but we were going to grab an early dinner. Do you and Sam want to come?"

The brunette blinked as she could see the reason why Jade had to worry about other girls. She cleared her throat and asked, "Oh? Yeah, sure… that's fine."

Sam shrugged a shoulder and the blonde answered in a casual voice, "Mama's not going to turn down a chance to eat."

He continued to smile as he offered to lead Carly to his car along with Jade trading uneasy looks with Sam for a moment until the green and blue streaked hair teenager peeled off to head to catch Tori before she left with André to follow them.

As the rest were making their way to their respective vehicles, Rex piped up to Robbie as he was heading to Trina's car, "I told you that you need to forget about Cat—"

Sam was coincidentally walking near him as she walked several feet behind Beck and Carly as they headed towards the longer haired teenager boy's car and overheard the comment. She slowed her walking and gently threw out a hand across Robbie's chest to stop him from walking and interrupting him as soon as she heard Cat in reaction to forgetting about something. She looked to him and asked cautiously, "What was that about Cat?"

Robbie began to shake his head and reply, "Nothin—"

Rex decided to figuratively jumped in with his own opinion, "Robbie can't get over his crush with Cat, so he's still pinning over the girl."

"So… you like Cat?" Sam asked forcing as much innocence in her voice as possible.

Rex answered, "Of course he does."

A slight panic overcame Robbie for a moment as he desperately replied, "I do n—"

Rex motioned his head up and down to try to keep the attention focused on him as he interrupted, "You asked her to the Prome and you were pissed the rest of the night because Freddie actually showed up. You interfered with my game the entire night. Ava Cohen was fine that night—"

Robbie covered Rex's mouth with his free hand.

"So Robbie has a little crush on Cat… but now someone is in the way?"

Robbie frowned at the blonde as he had been caught. He shrugged a shoulder as he held Rex balanced and replied, "It doesn't matter either way. There's nothing I can do about it."

Sam raised an eyebrow and lifted the corner of her mouth as she asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes I am. We saw how it turned out when you—"

She titled her head down slightly and looked at him with a narrow stare as she interrupted him with a stern voice, "Did what I thought was necessary. I don't care if any of you think what I did was wrong. I'm looking out for my friend. If I have to be the bad one, then mama can be bad."

"I don't want to hurt Cat."

"Not to be morbid, but you have heard that there is more than one way to skin a cat?"

Robbie looked uncomfortable with Sam's particular wording.

The blonde sighed overdramatically then answered, "I'm just saying, I may not have taken the best approach, but there are still other options."

"That all hurt Cat in the end—"

"Are you sure? The whole point of Freddie being here for the summer is to see if they could have something together. We could show them—discreetly of course—why that being together is not the best option."

Robbie asked cautiously, "Without any hard feelings?"

Rex shouted, "Don't do it Robbie, whatever you are thinking, don't—"

Robbie pulled his hand out of Rex's back before the puppet could finish speaking and held the puppet on his chest with his crossed arms.

Sam smiled as she laced her fingers together and pointed at Robbie. "No hard feelings."

"And why should I believe that? You don't exactly care about either of their feelings."

Sam rolled her eyes and refrained from growling at him. "_Fine_, don't believe me on moral reasons, but practical ones. We need them to realize that it's mutually best for them _not to be together_. It doesn't work otherwise 'cause they'll just think it's another scheme and it will bring them closer together. They may regret that it may not have worked out, but it won't leave them bitter and cautious about the next ones that come along…"

He asked hopefully, "Like me and Carly?"

Sam gave a dramatic grin and nodded her head to show that he was getting her point.

The curly haired teenager frowned. "You know they have a date tonight—"

Sam waved him off and pursed her lips for a moment. "And we are to do absolutely nothing to inter—do something that would suggest that they may not be right for one another. If anything happens to mess up their date they're going to blame me and just ignore their problems that are bound to pop up during a romantic dinner for two. They'll focus on me being the bad one instead of looking at each other… and maybe I'm not that cruel."

Robbie blinked and nodded before answering, "Oh, right."

Sam snorted out a laugh at the nervousness of the curly haired teenager. "So after dinner, where can a girl go to have a fun night on a Friday night in Los Angeles?"

* * *

><p>As Tori was getting into the passenger seat of André's car, Jade caught up with her and gently grabbed her right elbow.<p>

"What?" Tori called out as she stopped halfway in her seat. She looked up curious at the pale teenager who was looking at her with a slight frown. She slightly frowned in return and stepped back out of the car to face Jade.

"I have to keep Sam busy tonight, so you'll have to make Cat a knockout, okay?"

The lighter brunette raised an eyebrow and repeated back unsure if she heard correctly, "Keep Sam busy?"

The raven haired girl shook her head slightly and rolled her eyes for a moment. She focused back on Tori and spoke slowly as if she was talking to a small child, "I don't trust her. I am not going to let her screw up their date and that is exactly what I am expecting her to try to do."

"Ah… oh, right." Tori hated to agree with the other girl's paranoia, but after the lock-in, Sam trying something was not beyond the realm of possibilities. She still found it sad that three friends' friendships could have deteriorated to such a point, but relieved that Freddie and Carly had worked things out.

"Okay?" Jade repeated in a firmer voice.

Tori nodded and raised her hands in surrender. "Fine, I'll help Cat while you do… whatever."

Jade smirked in triumph.

Valentine's Residence  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Friday, July 1, 2011

Freddie took a calming breath as he tried to avoid pacing as he waited in the Valentines' living room. He had his hands stuck in his dark blue jeans pockets and shifted from foot to foot. He tried to appear a little less formal, but not entirely casual and he hoped he had exceeded with his white dress shirt pulled out from his jeans waist, black neck tie loose around his neck and the top button of his collar unbuttoned.

The nervous teenager glanced at the grandfather clock once again to check the time as it was now approaching eight o'clock and they had eight thirty reservations at the restaurant he was going to surprise her.

As an answer to his unintentional prayers, he heard Tori's voice call out at the top of the stairs, "We're coming down!"

Freddie crossed most of the living room to stand at the bottom of the stairs. He sucked in a breath and blinked as he saw Cat standing at the top of the stairs as the rest of his brain ignored Tori and Cat's brother, Frank standing beside the red velvet haired teenager.

Cat needlessly brushed her pulled back hair above her right ear and looked down towards the floor. She was wearing a sleeveless white dress that left her shoulders bare with only white straps that ran from the sides of the heart shaped front that cupped her breasts to over her collarbone, behind her neck and assumed that they crisscrossed her back. There was a gold decorated band that ran just under her cupped breast and from that the rest of the dress, a silky white material fell to about two or three inches above her knees.

She took a hold of the stair's railing and cautiously walked down the stairs in her heels. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she smiled warmly at him.

Freddie cleared his throat and whispered, "I feel underdressed now."

Tori had walked behind the redhead to make sure she didn't fall as she made her way down the stairs, so she was right beside Cat as she chuckled, "That's the exact reaction we were looking for tonight."

The Seattleite passed her a quick glance, but thankful smile.

The light brunette gave a slight nod and understanding smile in return.

Cat's brother started clapping his hands and nearly shouted, "You have to go. Time's a ticking."

"Right," she answered gleefully then gave her brother a kiss on the cheek. She looked back to Freddie with an anxious smile just as he was turning his attention back to her.

The brown eye teenager awkwardly offered his arm to the redhead who found his sudden awkwardness adorable. Her smile grew bigger and graciously accepted his arm.

Tori handed Cat her small black handbag. "Don't forget, now off you go."

The couple wasted no time to argue as Freddie led the redhead to the door.

Tori shook her head and smiled as she crossed her arms under her chest watching the happy couple pass through the front door. She caught a glanced of Frank holding a bright smile as he continued to watch the door.

Frank smile turned into a grin as he started, "One time, I…"

Tori shut her eyes and palmed her forehead as she put on a patient smile.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Special Guest Star, Frankie Grande as Frank Valentine. Of course Cat's brother's name has not been stated, but I reserve the right to retcon his name to the canon name for story purposes if it ever becomes known. The CatFreddie date will be the next chapter and no, you will not have to wait weeks more for it. Hopefully, writing and editing of it will be done by Friday. Finally, the exact outfit Cat is wearing for those of you who really care, is the one Ariana Grande wore to the Variety's 4th Annual Power of Youth Event in October 2010. Just saying if you are curious. Thanks for reading and don't be shy with the reviews.**


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Note: Hello dear readers. This update has been far too long in the making. It has been 369 days since the last update and I do apologize. I could give you this reason and that reason why I took so long, but let's face it, it doesn't matter, you just want to read a good story and I couldn't agree more.

Let me throw out a different kind of disclaimer: There is no way I can meet any kind of expectations after a year break in updating this story. Nothing I write could possibly be better than how you may have imagined me continuing this story, but I hope that you still will find it entertaining.

I hope to start this back up as alternating weeks with my other major story: 'We Love Each Other', and finish up the others in between.

I can't thank you enough for everyone's support in this story and I hope you come back to continue reading this story. I will try to respond to individual reviews, so don't be shy.

If you're interesting in reading another Cat/Freddie story, I suggest you read my friend PD31's story iSwitch Schools.

One last note, I know it has been a long time, but I would like to remind everyone that I will continue to be portraying Cat Valentine as closely as I can to Season 1 incarnation of the character, not how she has been portrayed post-'iParty with Victorious'. That interpretation of her is so childlike now that I wonder if she could legally consent to anything.

Rating: T for Adult Themes and Content

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><p>Chapter 31<p>

Maestro's Restaurant  
>Los Angeles, CA<br>Friday, July 1, 2011

Freddie smiled as he stood outside the restaurant with the redhead at his side with their arms linked together and his left hand resting on her delicate right hand. A smile was playing on her face as kept her eyes closed and eagerly waited to see the destination that Freddie was surprising her for dinner.

He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Okay, open your eyes."

The red velvet haired teenager let out a soft giggle from his breath tickling her ear and cheek. Cat opened her eyes and grinned nearly ear-to-ear as she saw that they were standing outside of Maestro's Restaurant. She shouted barely containing her glee, "I love this place!"

The brown eye teenager's smile grew bigger as he knew he had gotten this date off right. He leaned over slightly to whisper into her ear, "Jade said that you would… looks like I got the exact reaction _I_ was looking for."

She giggled for a moment then turned her head slightly and gave him a peck on the cheek.

He gave her a boyish grin and raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Would you care to go inside?"

She didn't answer him verbally, but started dragging him by the arm to enter the classy restaurant.

Freddie took a moment to confirm their reservation with the familiar blonde hostess that Cat had met the last time her and her friends had dinned. The maître d'hôtel, an older gentleman with dark grey hair, quickly led them to their table.

Freddie thanked the gentleman then pulled out Cat's chair to allow her to take the seat and smooth out her dress.

The waitress brought over their menus and handed one to each of them. Cat smiled up at her as she recognized the dark haired young woman as the same server as the last time the Hollywood Arts ate here after their 'Ping-Pong Tournament'.

Freddie opened up his menu and glanced over the selection. Jade had warned him that the meals were going to be a bit pricy, but that didn't bother him. He glanced over the edge of his menu and saw the apprehensiveness playing on the red velvet haired beauty's face as she slightly bit her lower lip.

He instructed with a gentle and warm voice, "Order anything you want."

Cat slightly frowned and gave him a concerned expression.

His face actually brightened more as he leaned slightly across the table and whispered in a conspiratorial manner. "I'm going to spoil you tonight, just let me, okay?"

A corner of her mouth lifted and her brow furled playfully as she relented, "Okay."

He snorted out a playful laugh and looked back to his menu. After deciding what he wanted, he looked back over the top of the menu and whispered, "I'd be disappointed if you skipped out on the deserts."

She bit her lip again and narrowed her gaze at him in a seductive manner. She glanced back down at the menu then whispered, "I'm ready to order."

He grinned for a second then looked back to the menu as he sat it down on the table. He motioned towards the waitress ready to place his order.

Cat had decided to get her regular meal from her times with the others while he decided to order what Jade had recommended was pretty good.

The pair chatted about meaningless things as the appetizers arrived and waited for their meal. They talked about what they hoped to perform during the Summer Theater Program along with the details of Summer in Film Program that Jade had enrolled that was also going to be held at the school. Freddie was hoping that he'd get to slip to the film program a few times to see if he could pick up any tips for filming.

The main course eventually arrived and Cat happily dug into the meal. Freddie enjoyed his meal that his mother probably wouldn't have approved of it on a nutritional level and he quickly realized that it was worth the money even outside the great company, so he really considered the meal a bonus.

As the redhead at between her lobster and potato, a thought occurred to her from her last visit. "What's your opinion on a lobster flavored potato?"

Freddie was midway through chewing a morsel as he looked at her in surprise. He finished that bit of food then took sip of his tea to clear his throat before asking with a questioning expression, "Ah, pardon?"

She motioned with her fork between the lobster and the potato resting on her plate. "A lobster flavored potato; When I asked everybody about I the last time we were here, Tori agreed that if a farmer put a lobster and a potato in the same hole, they would get a lobtato," her smile brightened as she finished.

Freddie's brow knotted from the comment and patiently listened to her point. He shook his head and wondered why Tori would tell the girl such a thing instead of just telling her the truth. "You wouldn't get a lobtato. It might absorb some of the nutrients from the decomposing lobster as a type of fertilizer, but I don't think you could get a lobster flavored potato."

She looked down at her plate with a frown forming on her face. The playfulness in her eyes dulled somewhat and she started poking around her plate with her fork.

He frowned and looked down at his plate. He thought for a moment then whispered, "Would you have rather I lied to you?"

The redhead frowned as even she could realize the implications of him just readily agreeing with her instead of telling her the truth. How many others had just placated her with agreeing with whatever silly thing might have left her mind? She shook her head, "No."

"But I disappointed you," he whispered out in a hollowed tone.

She forced a smile that Freddie saw right through. "It's okay."

He tilted his head just enough so his eyes could meet her eyes. She didn't want to show her the hurt he felt for possibly popping her bubble in such a belief, but he couldn't avoid it if he was going to answer her, "You not smiling is telling me otherwise."

She shrugged a bear shoulder and turned her head in that direction and softly muttered, "No, it's just… I don't notice when people say things just to agree with me because they don't want to upset me. I just wonder how many really agree with me. I wonder how many things I've been blind to."

"They don't want to hear 'What's that suppose to mean?'"

Cat's brow furled as she snapped in a frightened tone, "What's that suppose to mean?"

He gave her a gentle smile and reached over to rest his right hand over her left one resting on the table. He gently rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

She glanced at his hand for a moment then back to him with an apprehensive expression.

He answered back with a tender voice, "What do you think I mean? Really, what do you think? Tell me how you're interpreting my words? _Please_, I need to now."

"I'm not sure."

Freddie's shoulders slumped as he started idly pushing the food on his plate with his fork. "Is that why you sounded scare? You really weren't sure what I meant, but you assumed the worst? That's how I understood your tone."

She looked down at her plate again and frowned as she whispered in a soft voice, "Maybe."

"Does everyone assume the worst and that's why you ask?"

"Yes. People look down on me and think I'm a child at times."

"Do you think I would assume the worst or think less of you? Do you think I look at you as a child? Do you feel that you need to protect yourself from what I might think?"

She looked up and hesitantly smiled at him. "Maybe… because…" She bowed her head and lowered her eyes to stare at the lobster that was suddenly becoming unappetizing to her. "…boys always leave me and I think that's why. They want a more mature girl, not someone like me… a child and times that I don't understand just reinforces that."

"I think you're innocent in some ways, but that doesn't make you a child. You're smart and you understand things better and you're more knowledgeable about things in life than you realize. I guess I'll just have to be clearer and if not, you'll just have to ask." He shook his head back and forth slightly as he whispered, "I don't care whatever emotional or psychological problems you believe you may have…" He smiled as he finished, "And I know your hair color has nothing to do with it… it might be interesting to see you one day as your true brunette though."

The redhead snorted out a laugh that quickly turned into a giggle.

Her laughter brought a smile to his face which just brought out a bigger laugh from the redhead that she had to cover her mouth with a hand to avoid in drawing too much attention to them.

Once she calmed down from her laughter and took a sip of her tea to calm her nerves, Freddie cautiously, but optimistically began, "I think this is my chance to prove it."

A corner of her mouth lifted up in surprise and she gave him a playfully curious expression.

"I know we're here to have a nice time and I certainly think we are but… I wanted to talk to you about something important and this might be the best time to bring it up."

"Oh?" she asked with a hint of curiosity mixed with innocence.

Freddie met her brown, almost doe like eyes, then let out a breath. "We've been doing this for what? The last six, seven weeks? And we've never really defined what we are. We've been friends and exclusive and… _well a little intimate_ and you've been so patient with me… I think we… _I_ should stop dancing around the issue. I don't need the rest of the summer to figure out what I want to do. I'm ready, if you want to, be your boyfriend and you my girlfriend, _officially_ I mean. I know trying a long distance relationship is going to be tough, but I think we can make it work."

Cat bit her lower lip and looked down to her plate. She wasn't expecting them to have this conversation this soon despite what Jade had told her about not playing games and just going for it with Freddie. Her advice had invaded the redhead's thoughts since the raven haired beauty gave her the advice. She wasn't playing if she gave him time and that's what they had all summer: time. She was still afraid of pushing him into an unnecessary decision and as much as she attempted to cover her feelings, she really couldn't ignore Carly. The love of his life had admitted to her that she loved him now, but he was in the dark with the information.

She slightly shook her head as she put an awkward smile and whispered her reply, "You don't have to tell me that now. We have the whole summer to figure it out. You don't have to rush in telling me anything."

Freddie blinked and took a breath from the unexpected answer. He took a quick sip of his tea to wet his quickly drying mouth. He sat his glass down and replied cautiously, "Are you having doubts?"

"No, it's just… are you ready?"

Freddie took another deep breath as he passed a glance towards the table then back to her. "Do I have to be one hundred percent ready?"

"Is Carly ready?" she whispered back getting as close to the line as she could without violating the brunette's trust.

He frowned and answered with a hint of indignation in his voice, "About what? I'm not asking her permission to see anyone."

Cat shook her head slightly. "That's not what I mean."

Freddie blinked in confusion and tilted his head to the side slightly. "I know where I stand with Carly… she's my friend… a friend that I may have some lingering feelings for, but… I can't let that keep me from moving on." He studied the redhead as she refused to meet his gaze. "Are you concerned about what happened at the hospital that night?"

She whispered out, "Not in regards to you…" then quickly looked down to her half eaten potato and felt the need to scoop an entire fork's worth into her mouth to keep her from saying another word. Instead, she pulled the end of her ponytail arranged hair over her left shoulder and started playing with the end of it with her fingertips.

Freddie blinked at what she had just revealed as this was the first time she had shown any real indication that she was threatened by Carly.

"Caterina?"

She looked up to meet his compassionate eyes.

He leaned forward and spoke with as much conviction as he could muster, "She could tell me that she's in love with me right now, but… it wouldn't change anything."

"I didn't say she was in love with you," she snapped so quickly in a frightened voice that Freddie knotted his brow in confusion.

He blinked and his mouth slightly dropped open for a few seconds before he could mutter out, "I'm just… speaking in a hypothetical situation."

"Oh?" she breathed out and put on a relieved smile then looked at her plate in a desperate attempt to hide her gaze from him, but she couldn't stop fiddling with the ends of her hair. She whispered out without even realizing it, "Wouldn't it?"

He cleared his throat as he turned his attention to his meal. He muttered out hesitantly, "So, is this a no… to wanting to be my girlfriend?"

Cat looked up and her mouth opened as she felt caught on how to answer.

He caught her soft gaze of her brown eyes and easily saw that she was becoming more upset by the moment. He'd lying if he said that he wasn't feeling a momentary bit of panic because this wasn't how he was envisioning how this night was turning into, but fortunately he had enough wits about him to reassert his confidence in trying to salvage the situation. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it. I didn't mean to pressure you for an answer. We were going to figure the answer out during the summer, not me ambushing you from the start and using your favorite restaurant to do it."

"You're not… you're just being honest with me, I'm just… I'm sorry that I can't give you the answer you want right now."

He nodded along trying to keep as much of his composer and dignity intact as possible. "It's okay."

Cat softly bit her bottom lip as she realized how much she had hurt his feelings and shouted out without thinking, "We're exclusive."

Freddie looked up in surprise.

The actress cleared her throat and a soft blush formed her cheeks as she continued, "We're still figuring—I'm still figuring out what I want from this, but I do know that I want to be exclusive with you. I'm not going to look elsewhere and I don't want you too either. Is that asking too much from you even if I can't say it? I don't… I don't want you to feel obligate to me and miss out on someone that wouldn't hesitate to say yes to you. I don't want you to waste your time."

Freddie smiled and softly shook his head. "That is not asking too much from me… I'm not wasting my time with you even if turns out in the end that this won't work out in the end…" He leaned forward and whispered out in a conspiratorial manner, "Which between you and me, I'm hoping it will work out."

Cat's eyes lit up and her smile brightened up and showed off her dimples.

He couldn't help but smile back even if there was a hint of disappointment and guilt under it.

The redhead apparently could pick up his disappointment from his eyes and whispered, "Would you do something for me to make it up to me if you really feel that guilty?"

His eyes opened up and eagerly answered, "Yes."

She gave him a soft smile as she answered with a tender voice, "Don't hesitate to be honest with me and don't apologize for it."

The tech-producer blinked for a moment as he wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly then cracked a smile. "Okay, I'll do that."

She let out another soft laugh as the waiter approached them early with their deserts. The redhead bit her bottom lip as the chocolate cake was sat in front of her. She looked back up to Freddie and muted her shout into a soft squeak, "Yay!"

Valentine Residence

About two hours later after enjoying their deserts and staying to listen to the night's entertainment, the almost couple passed through the front door of the Valentine Residence with Freddie having his fingers laced with the lovely girl that wanted him to have eyes only for her.

The pair stopped on their way to the stairs as Mister Valentine walked out of the living room and surprising them with a smile. He asked with a soft laugh, "Did you two have a good time?"

Cat smiled brightly as she cheerfully answered her father, "Yes dad; we had a great time. Freddie surprised me with Maestro's."

He raised an eyebrow while glancing at his daughter's potential boyfriend and laughed, "He did?"

Freddie laughed out nervously, "I just wanted to treat your daughter since we've been apart almost all the time. I'm just going to escort her to her room then head off to my room. We might want to catch a movie to finish the night?

"I'd love that," she softly laughed out then gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

The tech-producer momentarily forget that the redhead's father was standing there watching them as he continued, "I guess I'll meet you after we change? As beautiful as you look in that dress, I doubt you'd want to sit through a movie in it."

Mister Valentine softly laughed, "You do that," and drawing the teenagers attention back to him.

Cat giggled at her father then dragged Freddie by the hand up the stairs all the way to her room. She flipped the light switch as soon as she entered and he was about to turn to head out of the room, but she tightened her grip of his hand and pulled him to a stop.

The redhead spun him around so that her back was to her bedroom door and pushed the door with the back of her left heel and smirked as she heard the clicking of her catching shut.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he instinctually leaned forward for their lips to lightly meet at first then they deepened the kiss. Freddie wrapped his hand around her waist and met at the small of her back as he pulled her closer.

If he thought he was going to take the lead by supposedly have the superior position of holding her, he was wrong as she surprised him by nudging him with her body weight and caused him to start walking backwards. He finally stopped when the back of his knees caught the edge of he bed and immediately fell back to have a seat on the pink comforter and hands slipped from her back to rest on her hips.

She smiled into their kisses as she kicked off her shoes. She pulled her lips away from him so she could place a leg on either side of his legs and straddle his thighs. Freddie's hands slid from her hips and let his hands rest on her thighs and started rubbing his hands up and down her legs (and slipping under the hem of her dress in the process) as she cupped his cheeks and started resumed kissing him.

She finally pulled her lips away from him so she could catch her breath and prevent from bruising her lips. She could feel that her upper chest was getting warm and her lower region. She started awkwardly smiling and avoiding his gaze. She dropped her hands from her cheeks and rested them on his chest and bowed her head to avoid his eyes. Their foreheads rested on one another and Freddie suddenly realized that Cat was becoming uncomfortable.

"Cat? What's wrong?"

She wouldn't look up at him as she tried to clear her throat.

"As self serving as it sounds… you can be honest with me Cat?"

She finally lifted her forehead off of his and looked at him with a hesitant gaze. "Ah… you know I think you're handsome right?"

He smirked. "Yeah, I figured that out a while ago."

She nervously continued, "I'm attracted to you."

He softly laughed in the hopes that he would lift her spirits as she wasn't hiding her uncomfortableness, "I think we've established that several times."

"I'm _physically_ attracted to you too… really and… I'm tempted… you know…"

He raised his head and captured her lips for a moment to reassure her then meet her eyes again to whisper, "I'm tempted too… you are a beautiful girl and not just on the outside and I'm flattered you would think of me that way."

"You don't think less of me? You don't think I'm being kind of a…" She was embarrassed as she didn't want to complete that sentence.

Freddie took a sharp breath then slowly let it out. He cleared his throat and took a moment as realized the importance of his next words. "I don't think we have to be ashamed of anything because we feel that way for each other. Just because we feel like that for each other that doesn't take away from the other qualities that we like about each other… that we like each other as people… as friends… as possibly something more in the future." He gave her a warm smile as he took another approach to make his point, "Do you think less of me that I'm tempted with such a beautiful girl in my arms?"

"No… _no_," she whispered out with a seductive smile as she lowered her eyelids just a hair then lifted up slightly off of his thighs and grabbed his tie and pulled him into a deep kiss. His hands slipped to under her thighs and traveled upward to cup her behind (to support her body weight of course since she was leaning forward and he didn't want her to slip and fall, that was the reason). Through the haze of the deepening kisses they were sharing, he realized that he was feeling mostly her soft skin until he felt the outline of her boyshort panties.

He started trailing kisses away from her pink and cliché describing bubblegum lips down her chin and across her jaw line. He kiss became softer if possible as he trailed up to her left ear then started down her neck.

He kissed over her pulse point then down to her exposed left collarbone while she gripped the back of his head with her right hand and her left hand rested on his crown. She closed her eyes and softly whimpered out as his lips tickled her collarbone A piece of her mind screamed to conscious mind to verbalize its need for his lips to travel further down and push aside the thin material of her left cup.

She softly bit her bottom lip to prevent such an utterance as the rest of her was content with what he was doing and she didn't want to scare him off from stopping as they were starting to skirt the edge of how far either wanted to physically go in their relationship.

His hands softly started kneaded her behind and running his pointer fingers under the bottom hem of her panties as he intensified his kisses across her bare skin of her upper chest. She pushed up from the gently and slightly ticklish contact which caused her to shift her weight more against his chest. As heavily built and strong he had become from the rehabilitation and continued workout regiment, even he couldn't keep them up from the shift in weight, so fell backwards onto her bed and she gently fell with him.

The couple immediately started laughing n the shift from increasingly heated passion to playfulness. He smiled up to her and softly asked, "So what movie do you want to watch tonight?"

She gave him a playful smirk then leaned forward to whisper in his right ear with a seductive tone, "I'm not in any hurry."

The pair tenderly traded more kisses and finally got around to changing and putting in a movie about an hour later.

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><p>Author's Note: Wow, I hope the wait was justified at least partially. I know I wouldn't be able to meet everyone's expectations, but I think there was some good fluff along with some character development and story advancement.<p>

So Cat is putting her potential friendship with Carly ahead of her potential relationship with Freddie to buy the web-hostess time to woman up and tell Freddie the truth? I wonder if her good deed will go unpunished.

Okay, I might be taking some liberties with Cat's father as the very few mentions of him from TheSlap and what Cat mentioned one time in 'Tori the Zombie', but I'm taking a more Season 1 approach with the Valentine family, so I'm thinking Cat's qualities might come for her father and not potentially some kind of mental illness.

Special Guest Star Nicholas Brendon as Mister Valentine


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